


Only To Dream

by Icantswim



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band), One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, American Football, Bottom Ashton Irwin, F/M, Fem!Louis, Harry is a sweetheart, Jock Calum Hood, Jock Harry Styles, Jock Liam Payne, Jock Luke Hemmings, Jock Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson is a Little Shit, Luke is a jerk, M/M, Popular Harry Styles, Popular Luke Hemmings, Protective Harry, Protective Louis, Protective Michael, Protective Niall, Protective Zayn, Punk Michael Clifford, Punk Zayn Malik, Sassy Ashton Irwin, Shy Ashton Irwin, Top Luke Hemmings, captain harry styles, fem!ashton
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-17 22:40:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28982004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Icantswim/pseuds/Icantswim
Summary: Ashton is practically a nobody, who is often bullied by a very popular Luke Hemmings. When the captain of the football team kicks Luke off of the team for his cruelity to Ashton, Luke must befriend the boy in order to regain his popularity.orAshton snatches his arm away as if it had been burned as he narrows his eyes disapprovingly, “As you should,” he says as he makes his way towards the door.“What, not even a thank you?” Luke tries to sound cocky, as if he isn’t just as emotional as Ashton is.“Fuck you Luke. I’m not going to thank you for putting an end to a rumor that you and your girlfriend started,” Ashton hurries out the door, not leaving Luke any chance to retort.
Relationships: Ashton Irwin/Original Male Character(s), Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Luke Hemmings/Ashton Irwin, Luke Hemmings/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 33





	1. Heaven’s on Fire

**Author's Note:**

> I would just like to thank you for checking this out! ☺︎︎
> 
> Also a HUGE thanks to my editor, Lexie! I couldn't have done this without you!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke is an ass, Ashton is uncomfortable, and Harry is pissed off about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy!

_"I got a fever ragin' in my heart, you make me shiver and shake. Baby don't stop, take it to the top, eat it like a piece of cake. You're comin' closer, I can hear you breathe. You drive me crazy when you start to tease.You could bring the devil to his knees. -KISS''_

꧁꧂

Ashton couldn't concentrate if his life depended on it. Chemistry was boring enough and even the slightest things distracted him. So having a very flustered Luke Hemmings sitting two desks in front of him as a hot girl whispers sultrily in his ear isn't exactly easy to ignore. When the girl is finished with her whispering, she steps back from Luke with a pat on his thigh, threateningly close to his crotch. Feeling eyes on her, the girl looks behind her, straight at Ashton. Embarrassed that he has been caught, Ashton flushes crimson and quickly averts his gaze. He sincerely hopes she doesn't think he was staring at her. God, that would be more embarrassing than having a very straight Luke Hemmings catching him gawking.

Ashton lets out a sigh of relief when the girl sits back down at her own desk. It shouldn't come as a surprise though, no girl would be dumb enough to assume Ashton was checking them out, at least not anymore.

Since the end of sophomore year, Ashton had made it his mission to make it clear he was gay based solely on his clothing. He quite likes his clothes that scream the "I'm a bottom, get your tits away from me before I puke!" look. What can he say? He's a punk at heart.

Even with his extreme fashion taste, some girls still didn't understand that the boy with a 'Femboy Hooters' shirt doesn't want anything to do with you or your C cups. For instance last year, one of the most popular girls in school, Mia, was persistent on getting him to go out with her. It was tragic, really. Ashton had tried to let her down gently, but she wouldn't take no for an answer. It finally took Ashton yelling "I like sucking dick" in her face for her to realize that he wasn't saying no because he was shy. The poor girl was mortified, and from that day on, the assholes on the football team made sure to torment the ever living hell out him. He was pushed into lockers and called a fag and luckily -unless provoked- that was the worst Ashton got of it.

Chemistry was ticking to a close when Ashton realized there's a smudge on his white Fila shoe. He had saved up his past 5 paychecks from his job at O'Riley's Grocery Store to pay for them. With a groan he bends down to the ground to try to hurriedly scrub the smudge away.

He roughly rubs his thumb over the shoe until the shrill sound of the school bell interrupts. He quickly moves his head back up to collect his things and get the hell out of there, but as he sits up, his head crashes into something solid.

"Watch it, fag," a voice that Ashton knows so well, the same voice in both his dreams and nightmares.

"S-sorry," Ashton apologizes as he keeps his eyes closed and sits up the rest of the way.

A tight grip grasps around the front of his collar. He mentally prepares himself for whatever verbal or even physical strike will follow his mistake. Ashton keeps his eyes closed, awaiting a blow that doesn't come. Instead he hears the voice of his unlikely friend and occasional savior.

"If you want to play this Friday, Hemmings," Ashton's savior bellows from the doorway, "I suggest you leave Ashton alone."

Ashton quirks an eye open as he feels the hand on his shirt loosen and then disappear. He sees Luke grimacing and then storming past Harry Styles who stands propped up against the doorway.

"Thanks for that, Styles," Ashton collects his books and hurries out the door.

He sincerely hopes that Harry gets the hint and doesn't follow him. He wouldn't want the school to get the wrong idea about their relationship. It's not that Ashton would be embarrassed to call Harry his boyfriend, that's far from it. Harry was possibly the most popular guy in school. The senior was the captain of the three sports he plays, Football, Lacrosse, and Basketball. Most people worship the ground that he walks on. So, if the word got around that he was dating Ashton, then Harry's whole reputation could be tarnished. Ashton really didn't want to be his downfall.

Ashton looks behind him and doesn't see a head of long curls following him, so he sighs a breath of relief and spins the dial on his lock until it pops open.

"Hey Ash, gotta a sec?" Ashton groans when he recognizes the deep, slow voice.

"Anything for you, Harry," Ashton rolls his eyes playfully and shuts his locker door, to find Harry leaning against the locker next to Ashton's.

"I don't understand why you take Hemmings' shit,"

Ashton doesn't really know how to answer, so he rummages around in his locker, pretending to be doing something productive.

"Don't ignore me," Harry snaps.

"Don't you have some other twink to bother. Like oh, I don't know. Louis Tomlinson?"

Harry clasps his large hand over Ashton's mouth, "Would you like to be quiet?"

Ashton bites the hand that covers his mouth.

"Ow!"

Harry quickly retracts his hand, shaking it to try to ease the sting and then frowning at the teeth marks left on his palm.

Before Harry can pester Ashton much further, someone else joins them by Ashton's locker.

"Shoo Styles, go bother some other twink. I heard you got the hots for Tomlinson."

Michael, Ashton's only friend in this God-forsaken hell hole, tries pushing the jock away.

"Would you two shut up!" Harry glares at them with his forest green eyes, which seem to darken.

"Bye Mikey and see you at work Harry," Ashton shuts his locker and leaves the two behind as he makes his way down the hallway.

—

It was pitiful, really. A 17 year old boy should be able to reach the top shelf, right? Well apparently all of them except for Ashton, as he strains to grab a bag of flour from the top shelf.

It really shouldn't be this difficult, the flour was typically on the bottom shelf at O'Riley's Family Owned grocery store. But this flour was for old Mrs. Johnson, who had a gluten allergy and always requested rice flour. Every week Ashton and Harry took turns delivering groceries to the older woman. Unfortunately for Ashton, it was his turn this week.

Groaning, Ashton strains his back as he perches on his tiptoes and extends his right arm, desperately trying -and failing- to grab the damned rice flour.

"Need help, Ash?" a deep, slow voice comes from behind him.

"Please," Ashton takes a step back, allowing Harry to step up to the shelf.

With ease, Harry reaches up and swipes the dense bag and hands it to Ashton.

"Thanks!"

Ashton sets the bag into the basket that has the rest of Mrs. Johnson's things and turns down the aisle.

"I'm still mad at you!" Harry calls.

Ashton slowly turns around, confused, "Mad at me? For what?"

Harry leans against the shelf and picks the dirt out from under his nails, "For biting my hand."

"Oh, poor you."

Ashton turns to start walking away when Harry's voice stops him again.

"Just a heads up, Luke Hemmings is up front."

"Thanks for the warning."

Ashton tries his hardest to not let Luke's presence affect his work. He carries the basket towards the front and rings up all the items, writing the total on a yellow slip to give to Mrs. Johnson when he drops her things off. It doesn't seem that Luke has noticed Ashton's presence. Or if he has, then he isn't concerned about it like Ashton is.

Luke intently stares at the candy shelf, he picks two bags of candy up and brings them close to his face, squinting his eyes to read the small words printed on the plastic. Turning his attention back to his work, Ashton checks over his list one last time (something he should've done before ringing the items up, but Luke was a tad distracting). He notices that there was something scrawled in the paper's margin that he had written off as the title of the list. He's poorly mistaken when he reads the small words clearly printed in neat cursive Chocolate Chips

Sighing, Ashton begrudgingly treks over to the candy aisle and hopes that Luke doesn't pay him any mind. Of course Ashton's hopes are never granted, because as soon as he passes Luke to get to the chocolate section of the aisle, the taller boy notices the other's presence immediately.

"Hey, uh Ashton, right?" Luke calls out, making Ashton stop in his tracks.

The shorter boy pivots slowly, pasting on his customer service smile.

"That's me, do you need help with something?" Ashton asks.

"Yeah, um. My girlfriend wanted me to get her candy but she's on this keto thingy and cant have sugar. Got any suggestions?" Luke shows Ashton the bags of candy he has in his hands, both sugar free but totally not good for keto.

Ashton takes the bags out of the blonde's hands.

He squints his eyes to read the print on the back, "Oh well, those won't do her any good. They have carbs, and keto is all about limited carbs; these are a big no."

Ashton hands the bags back with another faux grin.

"Oh, uh I didn't know that." Luke quickly puts the bags back on the shelf.

"We have keto-friendly options in our pharmacy section. I've had the Keto peanut butter cups and they aren't half bad." Ashton suggests then turns on his heel towards the chocolate.

"Uh, she hates peanuts." Luke says.

With an eye roll, Ashton turns back around, "I've heard the Keto chocolate chip cookies are shit, but the blueberry muffins aren't too bad. I'd give those a try, unless she hates blueberries too."

Ashton tries to make the last part a joke, but it just ends up sounding condescending.

"No, she likes those I think." 

"Well unless you need help with something else..." Ashton trails off, hoping he doesn't need to spell it out.

"No, I think that should be good," Luke awkwardly looks down at shoes.

"Have a nice day," Ashton flashes his customer service smile one last time before hurrying out of the aisle as fast as his legs can carry him.

\--

The car ride to Mrs. Johnson's small house was a relatively short one, which Ashton was grateful for because as soon as he made this delivery, he was free to go home. Basket Case by Green Day comes on the radio and Ashton can't help but press the button on his steering wheel that turns the volume up. He honestly feels like this song is his current anthem, because let's face it, he is quite the basket case.

He turns down the familiar street that he visits every other week. The houses vary in sizes but are all quite charming. Ashton had always dreamed of living in the nice side of town, but it wasn't something that his mother could afford.

Mrs. Johnson's house is small and quaint. Her front yard is always clad in beautiful garden arrangements. Every time that Ashton drops off her groceries she is always sure to thank him by sending him home with a bouquet of flowers. Ashton remembers the first time she did this. When she had given him the flowers, he told her that he couldn't take them, but she insisted. She said that if he didn't want them, then to give them to his girlfriend. Ashton had told her that he didn't have a girlfriend nor did he think he would ever get one. She waved him off, and told him to take the flowers anyways, telling Ashton to give them to his boyfriend then instead.

Since then, she has been sure to send Ashton home with a bouquet of different types of flowers every time he drops off his groceries. Ashton lets his mind stray to the type of flowers he hopes to receive as he fishes the brown paper bags out of the backseat of his car. He hums the tune that he was listening to before he had shut off the car and hardly realizes that a car pulls up in the driveway of the larger house next door.

Ashton takes the two large bags out. They are heavy and nearly overflowing and Ashton has a hard time carrying them. Unable to close the car door with his hands, he knocks it shut with a swing of his hips. The movement jostles the bags a bit so he readjusts them before starting towards Mrs. Johnson's front porch.

He only gets a few yards before he hears the bag beginning to tear. He tries to bring the bottom of the bag towards his body in hopes of catching anything that tries to fall, but to no avail. The groceries rip right through the bag and onto the driveway's pavement.

"Damn it!" Ashton curses when the other bag tips and spills everywhere. He tucks the ripped back under his arm and kneels down to collect the scattered groceries into his arms.

"Need some help?" Ashton hears a voice from above.

Seriously, right now? He had to show up at the worst possible time ever.

"N-no, I'm okay," Ashton lies as he piles the groceries in his arms which begin to get overly full.

He goes to gather another item, but the rest of the groceries he has stacked in his arms slip and go crumbling back to the pavement.

"You sure about that?" Luke bends down and begins to collect what Ashton dropped.

He's able to gather a lot more than Ashton could, with his long arms wrapping around multiple items. The muscled arms flex as he grabs more and stacks it in the pile. Never has Ashton wanted to be groceries more in his life.

"Are you alright out here Ashton?" Mrs. Johnson's voice pulls Ashton away from his thoughts.

Ashton's gaze shoots up towards the porch, where Mrs. Johnson stands with her arms crossed worriedly.

"I'm fine, but the bags ripped ."

Ashton and Luke collect the scattered groceries and carry them inside. They gently dump the items on the counter and Ashton begins to put them away as he always did for the older woman.

"Thanks for the help," Ashton smiles as he reaches to put the flour away on the top shelf.

His shirt rides up and Ashton can feel Luke's gaze on his stomach.

"Uh," Luke swallows, "No problem."

Luke stumbles back a bit, flushed.

"You didn't tell me you were dating one of the Hemmings boys," Mrs. Johnson interrupts their little bubble.

"Oh, we're not," Luke begins.

"He isn't," Ashton starts saying at the same time.

Mrs. Johnson ignores the protests and continues on, "You two are absolutely perfect together," she beams.

"He is pretty perfect, isn't he," Luke turns towards Ashton, gazing proudly.

"What the hell are you doing?" Ashton whispers harshly in Luke's ear while forcing a fake smile for the woman.

"Just giving her a bit of happiness in her old age," Luke grits back behind an equally fake smile.

"So cute, whispering to one another. I'm going to get your flowers Ashton." Mrs. Johnson walks out of the kitchen.

"That was weird," Ashton shakes his head, putting away the frozen foods in the freezer.

"What was?" Luke walks up to the freezer next to Ashton and leans close.

"Nevermind," Ashton begins to get flustered with Luke being so close. He walks back over to the counter and collects more items to be put away.

"Shit!" Luke exclaims when he catches a glimpse of his girlfriend's white jeep through the window, "Erika is here."

Without so much as another word, Luke sprints out of the kitchen. He nearly knocks over poor Mrs. Johnson.

"Where is he off to in such a hurry?" she asks once she catches her barings.

"Oh um," Ashton takes a moment to think of a believable excuse, "His mom needed him."

The elderly lady just nods before walking to the kitchen sink to rinse the dirt off of the tiger lillies that she had plucked for Ashton.

Ashton was confused. Not even 2 hours prior, Luke was calling him derogatory names and was ready to hit him. Now, he was kind and even a tad flirty. What in the world was happening?


	2. Still Counting

_"Counting all the assholes in the room, well I'm definitely not alone, well I'm not alone. You're a liar, you're a cheater, you're a fool. Well that's just like me yoohoo and I know you too. Mr. Perfect don't exist my little friend and I tell you it again, and I do it again. Counting all the assholes in the room, well I'm definitely not alone, well I'm not alone" -Volbeat_

_꧁꧂_

Any fragment of decency that Luke had shown Ashton diminished the following day at school. Ashton doesn't know why he thought it would change. Just because the very straight, popular boy pretends to be your boyfriend in front of his neighbor and flirts a bit, doesn't mean things are any different. Obviously, Ashton knew that Luke didn't actually mean the things he called him in front of Mrs. Johnson, but he still dared to hope that he would at least stop harassing him. Boy was he wrong.

"Faggot," Luke harshly yells in Ashton's ear before shoving him harshly into the lockers.

Ashton grimaces when his ribs smash against a locker dial, knowing it'll bruise.

An outstretched hand appears in Ashton's peripheral and he doesn't hesitate to take it. Michael hoists him up and begins checking him over for any external injuries.

Ashton bats his friends prying hands away, "Stop it Mikey, I’m fine."

Michael huffs, "Are you sure?"

Ashton nods his head in conformation then continues down the hall towards his locker. He spins his dial until it pops open and begins collecting his books for his first class.

"God," Michael groans, "I hate English."

The two walk down the hall and up a flight of stairs to the junior's English room. Ashton and Michael take their normal seats in the back right corner, hoping to be far enough away from their tormentors' reach.

The tardy bell rings and the rest of the class floods in. Ashton's breath hitches when he sees Luke walking in, looking as pretty as ever. He internally rolls his eyes when he sees Erika plastered to his side like the leech that she is. Luke whispers something to her and Asthon can hear her whine something inaudible before they break apart. Ashton can only appreciate Luke for a moment longer, because the jock makes his way over to the back right corner.

Both Michael and Ashton look up to see Luke towering over them, menacingly.

"Get lost, Clifford," he spits at Michael.

Michael snaps his attention to Ashton, eyeing him worriedly. He's afraid that if he leaves, the jock will beat up his best friend.

"Go Mikey, I'll be okay." Ashton puts on a brave face, trying to appear unaffected, if not confident, in the wake of Luke.

Michael nods and scurries off to the other back corner, still attempting to steer clear of his own bullies.

"C-can I help you?" Ashton stammers, nervously.

He internally curses himself for letting his fasquade crack and crumble.

"Shut the fuck up!" Luke roars, "I'm only gonna say this once, so listen carefully," he leans close to whisper in Ashton's ear. "What happened yesterday was all your fault. If you weren't so damn clumsy then I wouldn't have had to pretend to be your faggy boyfriend."

Ashton shivers a bit at the harsh, hot breath fanning his ear.

"O-okay. Sorry." Ashton isn't really sure what to say nor why Luke was still so close.

He doesn't have much longer to ponder it as the English teacher scurries in and demands everyone to take their seats.

Ashton grows bored in an instant, missing his friend that still sits on the opposite side of the room.

\--

Even after his chat with Ashton, Luke wants to make it abundantly clear that he is in no way, shape, or form interested in Ashton or guys in general. The next period that he shares with Ashton is lunch, so Luke has no troubles getting his point across. Anytime that Ashton would have the chance to see him, he began feeling up Erika. He sits her on his lap and kisses her neck until she squeals. He whispers hotly in her ear, which spikes her to hungrily smash their lips together. They snog in the middle of the cafeteria, not caring that half the student body is staring. As he and Erika make-out, he's sure to glance over her shoulder and catch Ashton's eye. He intensely stares at the boy as he ravishes his girlfriend's mouth.

"Knock it off, mate," Calum, his best friend, shoves his shoulder a bit, "I'm trying to eat here."

He gestures towards his uneaten sandwich that he had abandoned.

Luke rolls his eyes and pushes Erika off of his lap, "You're just jealous 'cause you aren't gettin' any."

\--

Between the insults, shoves, and Luke purposefully groping his girlfriend in front of him, Ashton is fed up and really wants to scream. Or cry. Or perhaps both. It doesn't get any better when Harry catches Luke making Ashton drop his book in the middle of the hall.

Luke laughs and walks away with his friends. Harry rushes over and helps him pick his stuff up.

"This has gotta stop, Ashton."

Ashton takes his notebook from Harry's hand and sighs, "Believe me, I wish it would."

\--

Being the captain of the football team has its perks, Harry thinks. Like the ability to kick someone off of the team without so much as a second glance from the coach. So, in between classes, Harry spots Luke in the hallways and beckons him.

"Hemmings!" he calls out to the junior, "I need to talk to you for a second."

Luke waves off his friends and jogs towards the senior, "What's up, Cap?"

"Listen closely, Hemmings," Harry begins.

"Okay?" Luke answers, the confusion evident on his face.

"Leave Ashton Irwin the fuck alone or you're off the team." Harry cuts straight to the chase, wanting to be blunt and absolutely clear.

"Aye aye Captain," Luke does a mock salute.

After Harry turns away, Luke turns the salute to a middle finger and flips the captain off. He was going to kill that Irwin kid for being a rat.

\--

Ashton's last period class practically has an unsupervised free period. The Chemistry teacher, Ms. Baker, is an older lady that refuses to retire even though she is half senile. Half of her classes are left unattended as she sits in the bathroom (doing God knows what) for entire periods at a time. Due to her partial dementia, Ashton's Chem class is now roaming freely about the classroom.

Ashton really wanted the day to be over. Sitting alone, (Michael wasn't in this class) he wants to pull his hair out. The students around him are so immature. Drawing obscenities on the whiteboard and changing the password to Ms. Baker's computer (Which is honestly cruel, because she couldn't remember her password to begin with). On top of all the immaturity his classmates were showcasing, it seems that Luke is trying to get under his skin.

Luke hasn't directly bothered him since this morning, Ashton is sure that Luke is trying to make a point by groping his girlfriend. At first, Ashton thought he was being paranoid. Everytime that Luke noticed him, he began feeling Erika up. He thought about voicing his observation to Michael earlier, but he knew that Michael would just dismiss the absurd theory. Now though, he was positive Luke was trying to grate on his nerves.

Ashton mindlessly taps his fingers against his desk and hopes that Ms. Baker remembers that she has a class. Not that Ashton actually liked Chemistry, it's just that he'd rather do work than sit here while Luke practically fucks his girlfriend while staring him down. He's startled out of his distaste for Luke's behavior by none other than Luke himself.

Ashton jumps when a large palm smacks down on his desk in front of him, "We need to talk," Luke says as he grabs a plastic chair.

He turns it backwards and sets it down on the opposite side of Ashton, then straddles it as he leans menacingly on Ashton's desk.

"I-if it's about Mrs. Johnson, she's old and she doesn't know what she's talking about. I can tell her that you were just being friendly and that we definitely aren't dating since you're straight. I mean I'm not, but you definitely are." Ashton nervously rambles on and on.

"Please just stop talking," Luke snaps.

Ashton lowers his head, "Sorry," he mutters quietly.

"I came here to talk to you because a certain senior is concerned I might be," he pauses a moment, "'bullying you.'"

Luke puts quotation marks around the bully part as if it were the most ludicrous thing he's ever heard.

"I didn't tell him that, I swear!" Ashton's head shoots up and he begins to panic.

Ashton knows he's totally fucked now. Luke thinks he narc'd on him, which is a huge problem. No one likes a snitch.

Luke leans closer. Ashton can see the leftover traces of Erika's lipgloss on his lips and neck. He thinks it might be Glossier, because he has the entire fruit set at home and that one smells just like his cherry one.

"Really?" Luke questions, breaking Ashton out of his lipgloss induced stupor.

"I promise," Ashton swears, earnestly.

Luke leans in even closer. Ashton can see every detail of his face and it's glorious. The freckles dusting his cheeks. The speckles of grey that look so enticing up close. Even the small hole pierced in his lip, sitting behind the ring.

"Ms. Baker I-" a deep voice startles Ashton out of his reverie, "Hemmings! What the fuck did I just tell you?"

Harry storms over to Ashton and Luke in the back corner. He shoves Luke harshly, knocking him off of his chair. Luke sprawls to the floor and the class gasps at Harry's outburst. The captain is known for his gentleness and to see him lash out so violently is a shock to everyone.

"Get up," Harry reaches down, grabs Luke harshly by his forearm and hoists him off the ground.

Luke struggles in Harry's grasp and writhes until he breaks his arm free, "Get off of me!"

Harry is seething. Honestly, Ashton didn't know he had that function. He shoves Luke once more in a fit of rage and the junior goes stumbling into a table. With a grunt, Luke pushes himself off of the table and lunges towards Harry.

Harry barely dodges Luke's advance, but as he sidesteps, he trips over Luke's discarded chair in front of Ashton's desk. Harry goes hurdling to the ground and Luke takes the opportunity to jump on top of him.

Harry struggles beneath the junior, "Fuck you Hemmings! Your ass is off the team!"

Harry maneuvers himself and flips his and Luke's positions. Luke thrashes as Harry pins his arms down, preventing him from throwing a punch.

"Good, I don't wanna play for a faggot who's in love with that pathetic twink. What's his name again?" Luke smirks, "Louis?"

No one expects the blow that Harry delivers to Luke's left cheek. No one expects the clatter of books hitting the linoleum floor by the doorway either.

A bewildered Louis Tomlinson stands at the door, books scattered by his feet. Everyone's heads snap towards him.

"Lou?" Harry gawks, shocked to see one of his best mates standing there.

Louis backs away from the door and runs, disappearing from sight.

Harry pushes himself off of Luke and chases after him, "Louis, please!"

His call echoes throughout the hallways.

Luke sits himself up with an exasperated eye roll just as old Ms. Baker stumbles in, "Oh dear, has something happened?"

_You don't know that half of it lady_ , Ashton thinks just as the last bell of the day rings.


	3. Come As You Are

_"Come as you are, as you were, as I want you to be. As a friend, as a friend, as an old enemy. Take your time, hurry up, the choice is yours, don't be late. Take a rest as a friend as an old memori-a" -Nirvana_

_꧁꧂_

Luke doesn't know why he didn't just listen to Harry and leave Ashton alone. He had actually planned on following his captain's demand and just steering clear. He didn't have many classes with Ashton, and the ones he did, he could easily distract himself with his girlfriend or (God forbid) actual school work.

So, as he walks into his last period, he merely eyes Ashton as he walks in. He can feel the boy's gaze boring into him and he doesn't understand why that makes him slightly giddy. He dismisses whatever Erika is sultrily whispering in his ear and walks over to Ashton. Again, he doesn't know why. He thinks of different things to say to him. Maybe "Hey sorry for being a homophobic asshole to you." or "I really don't want to be kicked off the football team, so lets be civil for Harry's sake." or perhaps, "I'm very straight and you obviously aren't. But sometimes when you wear those skinny jeans, I wanna rail you against a locker." _Wait what? Scratch that last one_. But what he really didn't mean to do was to tell Ashton's friend to beat it and then get all up in Ashton's personal space and threaten and harass him. If he's being honest, he really didn't mean to lean in so close, but he was so entranced by the boy's hazel eyes, that he had to study them closer, to count how many colors beckon him in.

Well, that's when shit hits the fan, because of course that's when Harry shows up to return a book to the Chemistry teacher. And of course he catches Luke up close and personal in Ashton's space, looking all intimidating even after warning him to stay away. Luke could hear Harry bellowing his name angrily and he still didn't budge from his spot. It took Harry shoving him to the ground for Luke's gaze to waver. As his body collides with the cold, hard ground, that's when he finally realizes how royally fucked he was. He wants to protest when Harry hauls him up harshly by his arm, but he thinks he might've hit his head on the linoleum, so his words don't quite form as fast as he wanted them to.

Finally, he remembers to be angry for being manhandled to the ground like some ragdoll, so he snatches his arm out of Harry's grasp and seethes. Well, Harry gets just as angry and they dish out some pushes and shoves that escalate to Harry pinning Luke down on the ground. It all ends bitterly for both participants. Luke gets thrown off of the football team, and Harry gets outed not only to the entire junior Chemistry class, but also to his long time best friend and crush. After Harry runs off after Louis, Luke can't help but want to hit himself upside the head for being such a moron.

Now, walking through school the next morning, Luke knows just how bad he messed up. He isn't getting the lustful stares from girls or the envious ones from boys. Not many pay him any mind. The ones that do, whisper in each other's ears and Luke knows it's not the good kind that he usually endures during a regular school day. Their beady eyes bore into him and he feels like squirming as he makes his way to his locker.

Luke unpacks his bag and haphazardly flings his textbooks and binders on the top shelf. Usually, his locker would be swarming with people. Now though, no one is paying him any attention. He feels like slamming his head repeatedly in the door of his locker as he stands there awkwardly.

He breathes a sigh of relief when Calum walks up to him, "What's this I hear about getting kicked off of the football team?"

Luke groans before going into the whole situation with Ashton and Harry in vast detail.

"Pretty stupid reason for him to kick me off the team, innit?"

Luke shakes his head in disbelief after finishing his long tirade.

"Yeah, you were being pretty idiotic. I mean, what's the matter with you?" Calum matches Luke's expression, but for a different reason.

He couldn't fathom that his best mate for over ten years has been bullying someone.

"Me? Being idiotic? Have you lost your damn mind, Calum?"

"No, but apparently you have!" Calum shakes his head in disbelief.

Luke merely scoffs, he can't believe that his own best friend wasn't taking his side. He goes to retort in some way, but the sight he sees stops him. Erika is walking down the hall with some senior jock. What was his name? Liam Pine?

"What is Erika doing with Liam Payne?" Calum interrupts his thoughts.

Luke's eyes narrow on the two as they stop by Erika's locker. Erika fiddles with the dial and pops her locker open. She brings out a notebook and pen. She scribbles something on the front page, tears it out, folds it and then hands it to Liam with a smirk that Luke knows all too well.

"What the fuck?" Luke harshly slams the door to his locker shut and storms over to where Erika and Liam stand.

"What's going on, E?" Luke asks, trying to stay calm.

It doesn't work and he sounds as ticked off as he is. Liam cowers and steps a few feet away from where he was. The entire hallway comes to a standstill and quietly stares.

"Oh! Luke." Erika acknowledges, sounding genuinely surprised.

Luke wants to scoff because her reaction is ridiculous. He comes to her locker every day before class, so it's practically routine for him to be there.

"We need to talk," Erika says to Luke.

Liam takes the hint and gets lost, scurrying down the hall towards the senior's hallway.

Erika sighs, almost as if she feels bad about what she's about to say. She brings her hand up and rests it on Luke's cheek and strokes it.

"We had a good run, LuLu. But, I think it's best if we go our separate ways," she smiles softly at Luke.

Luke begins to panic. He peels her hand away from his face and steps back.

"What do you mean 'go our separate ways'? Are you breaking up with me?"

"It's for the best," Erika replies calmly.

"W-what, why?" Luke is sputtering like a fish, unable to understand why he was being dumped.

"Well, you've been kicked off the football team, and I have a reputation to uphold. I can't be dating a nobody, now can I?"

"Erika please! I'm going to get back on the team, just you see!" Luke turns away and runs towards the senior hallway.

Luke frantically searches the hallway for Harry. He sees a scared looking Liam Payne, glancing nervously at him. Niall Horan and Zayn Malik stand next to Liam, shielding him from Luke in case the junior gets hostile. Finally, he sees the senior he was looking for. The tall curly-headed lad leans easily against the lockers behind him as he animatedly talks to his short best friend, Louis. It seems that Luke's outburst yesterday didn't ruin their friendship. If anything, it seems that it made it better, if the way Louis grabs Harry's hand has anything to go by.

Taking a deep breath and trying to put on his most polite looking smile, Luke carefully approaches the senior.

"Uh hi, Harry. Can I talk to you?"

Harry's heavy gaze lands on the junior and Luke wishes the ground would swallow him whole. Harry is one of those guys who looks extremely intimidating and if you get on his bad side, he could seriously fuck you up. He is also the sweetest guy ever, but only if you're on his good side, which Luke currently isn't.

The senior whispers something in Louis' ear. Louis nods his head and walks away, towards Liam, Zayn, and Niall. The three look smug when Louis approaches, but Luke steers his attention back to the captain in front of him, unable to see what happens after.

"What do you want, Hemmings?" Harry sounds fed up with the conversation already.

"I wanted to apologize for my actions yesterday."

"Okay?" Harry asks confusedly, waiting for Luke to continue.

"And I was wondering if you would reconsider my removal from the team," Luke finishes.

He waits on a baited breath as Harry eyes him momentarily, "You want back on the team?"

"Uh yes please?"

"No," Harry turns and fishes his stuff out of his locker.

The morning bell rings and he walks over to his friend group, leaving a sour Luke standing at his locker.

The rest of the day goes by miserably for Luke. All of his friends ignore him, as if he were just a nobody trying to get the popular football players to talk to him. He supposes that's what he is now.

His last period is spent sitting in the back corner of the room, opposite from Ashton. He spends most of the class gazing angrily at his ex-girlfriend as she sits in some jock's lap. The other part of the class is spent catching quick glances at Ashton from the other side of the room.

It's nice to just appreciate Ashton. Luke knows he has more pressing matters than Ashton's beauty, but he can't help it. The afternoon sun filters through the cheap blinds that school refuses to replace no matter how old and tattered they are. The sun creates a warm hue around Ashton, making him look like an angel. That makes sense, Luke thinks. Ashton the Angel.

Luke snaps out of his Ashton induced stupor when he hears the shrill sound of Erika's laugh echoing through the Chemistry lab. He begrudgingly tears his eyes away from the boy to stare longingly back at his ex.

He tries to think of ways for Harry to change his mind. He could bake him cookies? No, that kid used to work in a bakery, he would probably laugh at his poor attempt at baking. Maybe he could get on Louis' good side and have the short senior convince the captain to let him back on the team. No, Louis terrified him. Despite his tiny stature, that little firecracker was scary.

Luke weighs his options before it hits him. He needs to befriend Ashton!


	4. Take On Me

_"So needless to say, I'm odds and ends._ _I'll be stumbling away, slowly learning that life is OK. Say after me. It's no better to be safe than sorry" - a-ha_

_꧁꧂_

Ashton sits alone in the back of his first period class, English. Michael had some strange allergic reaction to a hair dye he had used the night prior, so his mom made him stay home. Ashton dreaded the day without his best friend. Although Harry, and even his friends were kind to Ashton, they weren't exactly best friends.

Ashton had known Michael for years. Oddly enough, Michael used to be friends with Luke and Calum, but the summer before meeting Ashton, Michael could feel his friends drifting away. They both seemed to care too much what others thought of them. So, they both started playing football and got a new group of friends, leaving Michael behind. Well, Ashton had transferred to their school in the sixth grade and the two have been inseparable since.

Now, Ashton fidgets as he waits for the teacher to show up. He tries to distract himself from his discomfort by doodling in the margin above his notes. He successfully takes his mind off of his predicament and is startled out of his stupor by the sound of someone flopping down in the desk next to him.

Thinking that Michael changed his mind and decided to come to class despite his hair mishap, Ashton happily looks up towards the person next to him. His face hardens in shock when he discovers who it truly is.

"Sorry, is this seat taken?" Luke smiles warmly, showing his perfect dimples.

"Oh um, no it's not," Ashton meekly puts his head back down. He traces over his previous doodles. His hand shakes a bit as he runs his black pen over the lines.

Ashton can feel a breath fanning the hairs curled around his ear as Luke whispers, "What are you drawing?"

"N-nothing, just doodling," Ashton answers simply, silently begging for the English teacher to hurry and show up.

"Well, I think it's really pretty," Luke's lips just barely graze the shell of Ashton's ear, causing the smaller boy to shiver.

Ashton doesn't have time to answer. The english teacher, Mr. Ellis, hurriedly stumbles through the door, apologizing for his tardiness. Ashton doesn't really listen to his excuses, nor the conversation that seems to be going on back and forth between the teacher and the class. Mr. Ellis seems to be distracted by the conversations that the students are holding with him, because he never stands to teach.

The entirety of the rest of the period, Ashton scribbles random shapes and designs in his notebook. He continues on and on, surpassing the margin. About 5 minutes into his elaborate drawing, Ashton can feel Luke staring at him. It makes his heart thump heavily in his chest and he tries to get his labored breathing in check as he feels the blonde's heavy gaze boring into the side of his face.

"Why are you staring at me?" Ashton finds himself asking. He immediately regrets it as soon as it comes out of his mouth. He waits for a nasty remark or even a subtle physical blow as the question hangs in the air for a moment too long.

\--

Luke wasn't sure as to what to do to get Ashton to befriend him. For as long as Ashton had been going to their school, Luke truly had never actually talked to him until the incident atMrs. Johnson's house. He didn't know what the other boy liked, what he did in his free time, or really anything at all. He assumed Ashton couldn't be that bad if he was the one that Michael had gone to after things had gone sour between their old friend group.

Luke had felt bad that Michael wasn't friends with them anymore. The three of them were like the three amigos or perhaps more accurately, the three stooges. They even had their own band. They called themselves Five Seconds of Summer and would often play in Luke's garage. Despite lacking a drummer and only being 12, they were honestly not terrible. Unfortunately, Luke and Calum decided to pick up football and ditch the whole 'wannabe rockers' act. They wanted to be popular and wanted Michael to be as well, but Michael was never one to want to fit in. Once they got onto the football team, they never had a whole lot of time to just hang out, so Luke and Calum grew further and further away from Michael.

Luke had planned on rekindling his friendship with Michael once 6th grade started, but Michael had moved on with the new kid, Ashton. Perhaps, this is what started Luke's distaste for Ashton. He gets to do everything with Michael that Luke and Calum used to.

Now, as he sits next to Ashton, Luke can't think of a single reason to dislike the boy. As Luke stares, he knows that Ashton knows that he's staring, which provokes him to continue his gaze. The longer he stares, the more the boy next to him seems to fidget. The crisp lines of his absent-minded doodles waver as his small legs bounce. Luke can tell he's flustered by the faint pink tint that dusts his cheeks and seems to be becoming more prominent by the minute.

Luke thinks about what to say next, but the hazel-eyed boy interrupts the silence that has settled over the back of the classroom with his own question, "Why are you staring at me?"

Ashton doesn't even look up from the notebook, as if he didn't mean to actually speak his thoughts aloud. Once he notices that he has indeed spoken out, his pen stops abruptly on the page. Luke opens and closes his mouth for a moment, trying to articulate a response that actually made sense.

The silence in between Ashton's question stretches out longer than what is typical and he slowly raises his head to meet Luke's eyes. He looks fearful and hesitates to look into Luke's eyes for more than a few seconds.

Luke's mouth and mind finally resync because he suddenly is spewing out everything that has been plaguing his mind for the past half a minute.

"It's just that you look really pretty and I know that you know that I'm staring, which is probably why you are blushing so hard."

Ashton becomes more red when Luke calls him out and Luke can't help but let his mind stray to how far that blush goes down.

"Oh well, um thank you. I guess?" Ashton sounds unsure and Luke can't say that he blames him. Hell, he's unsure about why he's calling a boy pretty when he is in fact very straight. Or at least he thinks he is.

"You're welcome," Luke kindly smiles back.

Finally, Mr. Ellis gets up from his desk and begins passing out the tests that the class had taken the week prior.

Luke glances over the test and gives himself a mental pat on the back for the grade. He got a 95 and only missed one question. He steals he glance over at Ashton to see the boy grinning proudly at his own paper. Luke can see the bold, red 100% in the top right corner on Ashton's page. He finds that Ashton's cute grin is contagious, because the corners of his own mouth lift up into a fond smile.

Luke thinks for a moment. How can he use this to his advantage? He thinks of an easy tactic that will help him with his goal. He tucks his test away in his book before wiping his grin off of his face and replacing it with a sullen frown.

Luke clears his throat and asks, "How did you do?'

"I got an A." Ashton continues to smile down at his test, "How about you?"

"I uh, failed." Luke lies, "Yet again." he adds on at the end to sound more pitiful.

"Oh, sorry to hear that." Ashton sounds unsure how to talk to Luke.

Luke looks at his hands folded on top of his desk. He ponders how to go about asking Ashton for help. After a moment of consideration, Luke just goes for it.

"Do you think you could tutor me?" Luke jumbles over his words quickly.

Ashton whips his head quickly around, staring intently at the blonde next to him. He can't seem to wrap his head around the fact that Luke Hemmings, possibly the most popular kid in the junior class, wants to be tutored by him.

"I don't really have the extra time. I work everyday after school," Ashton hurries to explain.

"How about I come to work with you and you can tutor me there? I'll pay you," Luke asks.

Ashton ponders this for a moment, trying to think up an excuse to get Luke off of his back.

“I'm not sure Mr. O'Riley wouldn't want you to distract me while I work."

"Don't worry about him. My dad is golfing buddies with him, it'll be no problem," Luke is quick to tell.

The O'Riley's love him, especially Mr. O'Riley. The store owner always tried to get Luke and their daughter, Hannah, to go out together, but Luke was always taken. The girl didn't seem to be interested in Luke in that way anyways. She often wore trainers and t-shirts and had cut her hair off in the 9th grade. Now, Luke didn't want to assume anything, but he has a feeling that she doesn't swing the way that her parents believe she does.

"Well, if Mr. O'Riley is okay with it, then sure, why not?" Ashton gives Luke a smile that warms Luke from the inside out.

The pair swap phone numbers and make plans to meet at the grocery store at 4.

\--

Ashton is nervous for the rest of the school day. He isn't sure why he had agreed to tutoring Luke to begin with. Sure, he could use the extra cash, but was he willing to endure the jock for hours after school? He isn't sure if he will be able to stay sane.

Everytime that Luke passes Ashton in the hallway, he winks and sends a charismatic smile towards the honey-blonde boy. If Ashton didn't know better, he would think that Luke was flirting with him, but Luke had made it abundantly clear that he was definitely not gay.

Luckily, Luke leaves Ashton alone until geography during 8th period. Just as he had done in English, Luke practically throws himself down into the empty desk in front of Ashton.

"Hey Ash!" Luke greets enthusiastically.

"Hi, Luke," Ashton smiles shyly as he opens his notebook and begins scribbling down the notes that the teacher put on the board in the front of the classroom.

The two didn't continue their conversation aloud as the teacher began teaching. Ashton is startled when a folded up piece of paper is dropped on his desk. He plucks the paper off of his desk and unfolds it.

_**Can Walker get any more boring?** _

Ashton bites his lip to stop the small giggle threatening to escape. He rereads the messy scrawl on the paper and writes his response.

_**It's not nice to talk about teachers that way... no matter how true it is** _

The rest of the period, Ashton and Luke pass the crumpled paper back and forth. By the time the bell rings for their last class, the paper is filled with 45 minutes worth of conversation between the two. Luke made jokes at the teacher's and other students' expense. Ashton attempted to chastise him, but gave away his disapproval with quite giggles as he read the insults.

During last period, Ms.Baker is yet again M.I.A. Ashton sits at his desk towards the back of the room and isn't shocked when Luke takes the plastic seat next to his.

"Wanna bet on how long Baker will stay in the bathroom?" Luke whispers into Ashton's ear, causing Ashton to burst into a contagious fit of giggles that soon spread to Luke.

For the next 3 minutes, the pair crack up uncontrollably. By the end of it, Ashton is wheezing with tears in his eyes and Luke is doubled over, struggling to breathe.


	5. Barracuda

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

_ “And if the real thing don't do the trick  _ _ You better make up something quick  _ _ You gonna burn, burn, burn, burn, burn to the wick  _ _ Ooh, barracuda” -Heart _

꧁꧂

Ashton should honestly invest in a step stool for work, because what he’s doing currently, just isn’t cutting it. He stands on his very tippy toes, arm stretched far above his head, trying and failing to grab the cereal boxes that have been pushed to the back of the shelf. He’s been at it for about 10 minutes now. Usually, Harry and his giraffe legs would’ve come to help by now, but the senior is nowhere to be found. 

He scrunches his eyes closed, hoping that straining his face will boost him the extra 6 inches he needs. His fingers graze the middle of the shelf, still too far away from the cereal boxes. All of a sudden, he feels a body pressed next to his own.

“What are you doing?” Ashton hears Luke laugh.

“I can’t reach them!” Ashton whines, pointing towards the boxes.

“Here,” Luke says as he crowds Ashton against the shelf. He reaches his arms above Ashton’s head, surpassing Ashton’s own hand reaching inside the shelf. He gathers the three boxes with a swoop of his arm and brings them towards the edge of the shelf. Luke stacks the boxes and brings them down towards Ashton, handing them to him.

“Thanks,” Ashton takes the boxes from Luke’s hands and stands them up in a neat row.

“I just sacrificed myself for that cereal and you’re just gonna put it back on the shelf?” Luke shakes his head in disbelief and as he steps away from Ashton.

“It had to be done,” Ashton smiles back.

The shorter boy starts rearranging things on the lower shelves, giving Luke a perfect view of his ass. Luke swallows the spit that gathers in his mouth and has to physically shake his head to stop staring. 

“And not even a thank you?” Luke slaps a hand across his chest, mocking a pained expression, “I guess I’ll have to put these back where I found ‘em.”

Luke reaches towards the cereal boxes just as Ashton stands up to protest. The two collide, sending them both towards the floor. On the way down, Luke somehow lands on top of Ashton. They both groan, voicing their discomfort. Ashton’s breath hitches when he notices their compromising position. He squirms a bit, but Luke doesn’t budge. Instead, the blonde stares intently down at Ashton. The two lock eyes and Ashton isn’t sure how long they stay like that until he feels Luke’s weight being flung off of him.

“Ow, what the hell was that for?” Luke looks up at who tackled him.

“Stay the fuck away from him!” Harry angrily motions towards Ashton, who is still flat on his back on the floor. 

Ashton sits up and looks at Harry. He can see the older boy is visibly upset and is shaking in anger. It appears he is struggling to contain himself from launching his entire body on top of Luke and pummeling him into a bloody pulp.

“It’s okay, Harry. It was an accident.” Ashton quickly stands up and dusts his work slacks off.

“And all the other times he’s put his hands on you?” Harry roars, brow furrowing.

“It won’t happen again. I was a dick and I want to be a better person.” Luke pipes up as he slowly picks himself off of the ground. The entire backside of his left arm is an angry shade of red from where it collided with the ground when Harry tackled him. Ashton winces when he sees it, figuring it must hurt and will most likely be an ugly purple bruise come tomorrow. 

Harry narrows his eyes, staring at Luke disapprovingly as if he had just said the most ridiculous thing, “I don’t believe you.”

Before Luke or Ashton has the time to answer, a short, balding man hurries down the aisle. 

“Luke Hemmings! How are you, my boy?” Mr. O’ Riley slings an arm around Luke’s shoulders.

Ashton and Harry paste on their best customer service smiles for their employer as they pretend to busy themselves with rearranging the shelves. Mr. O’Riley steers Luke out the aisle without so much as a second glance towards Ashton and Harry. The two disappear out sight, towards the front of the store, where Mr. O’Riley’s office is. 

  
  


Harry and Ashton both drop the act. Ashton sighs and leans his forehead against the cold metal of the shelf. Harry walks over to him and spins the shorter boy around, making him face forward. 

“What’s going on, Ashton?” Harry squeezes the younger boy’s shoulder. 

“He needs a tutor, I said I would help him out,” Ashton shrugs. 

“Why can’t he get someone else to do it?” Harry’s voice rises, causing a shopper to stare.

Both Harry and Ashton smile at the customer until she strolls away before going back to their heated discussion. Harry lowers his voice but still speaks with as much fervor. 

“He’s up to something, I know it.” 

Ashton rolls his eyes and storms off without another word. He didn’t want to hear that the only reason that Luke was paying attention to him was for the jocks own sick agenda. Ashton wants to believe that Luke genuinely has changed and wants to be friends. A small part of Ashton secretly hopes that Luke wants to be more, but he would never voice that aloud. 

When Ashton gets to the front of the store, he sees Luke and Mr. O’ Riley walking out of the office together, laughing over something. Although the store owner seems like a nice man, Ashton can’t say that he’s ever seen him genuinely laugh. The closet thing he has seen is Mr. O’Riley’s feeble attempts at laughing at some poorly executed jokes made by customers. Now though, the man is wiping tears from his reddened cheeks over whatever Luke is too laughing at. 

  
  


Both seem to spot Ashton at the same time. Luke smiles profusely, making Ashton’s heart melt. The tall blonde struts confidently and stops a few feet in front of Ashton. 

“Ready to go?” Luke slings his arm around the shorter boys shoulders. 

Ashton’s head snaps around at record speed and his brow furrows in confusion. Luke begins walking towards the door, but Ashton keeps his feet planted. 

“Problem?” Luke asks, matching Ashton’s confused expression. 

“Uh, yeah,” Ashton deadpans, “I have this thing called a job.” 

Ashton throws his hands out as if he is gesturing towards the store, as if Luke doesn’t know that he indeed does work there. 

“So sassy,” Luke smirks, “I like it.” 

“Thanks?” Ashton says it as a question more than a response. 

“Anytime,” Luke winks, “Now get a move on!” Luke tries to usher Ashton towards the automatic doors. 

“What part of ‘I’m working’ don’t you understand, Hemmings?” Ashton sasses back.

“Me and O’Riley talked, you have the day off. Now mush!” Luke pretends to mush at Ashton like a dog pulling a bobsled through the tundra. 

“Don’t mush me! I’m not a dog,” Ashton finally starts walking towards the doors. 

The pair make their way through the exit and Ashton lets Luke pass him to lead him towards his car. 

“Well it got you movin’, didn’t it?” Luke throws the comment over his shoulder as he walks towards the back of the parking lot where a 69 cherry red camaro sits isolated from any other car or stray shopping car. The gloss coat shines beautifully in the mid-afternoon sunshine. 

Luke rounds the hood and fishes out a set of keys from his jean pocket. He quickly pops the key into the lock and pops the door open, before reaching inside and pressing the button to unlock the other door. 

“This car is beautiful,” Ashton runs his hands along the intricate details of the interior of the car. Ashton decides that the inside has to be completely custom. The wood paneling is a deep mahogany and the seat covers and the steering wheel match the shade perfectly. What Ashton finds most intriguing though, is the gearshift which appears to be a handle of a katana sword. 

“She is pretty, isn’t she?” Luke admires the craftsmanship of his car for a moment before buckling up and carefully pulling out of the parking space. 

“Since you kidnapped me from my job,” Ashton starts, but Luke interrupts.

“Saved you,” He chimes in.

“Kidnapped,” Ashton continues on, “Can I atleast know where you’re taking me?”

Luke stays silent for a moment, as if he's weighing the pros and cons of sharing their destination. “Nope.” 

“Dude, don’t be so sketchy.” Ashton retorts.

“Sorry, no can do,” Luke puts on his turn signal and looks over his shoulder at the traffic behind them, then quickly turns down a side road.

“Oh my God, you really are gonna kill me!” Ashton says in a obviously faked tone, but the horrid thoughts swarming through his mind weren’t so fake. 

“I’m glad you catch on quick,” Luke jokes back.

The two ride in silence down the sideroad. Luke holds the wheel in his right hand and lets his left hang out the window. Ashton had never been this way before, so he takes in the surroundings. Beautiful trees line the road as small woodland creatures dodge between the trunks and the road. Ashton enjoys the rural part of town compared to the suburban areas that he usually frequents. 

Luke can’t help but steal quick glances towards the boy next to him as they drive down the road. The sun is turning into a radiant gold, escasting Ashton in a magnificent hue. Again, Luke thinks that Ashton would make the perfect angel. So delicate and beautiful. Luke turns back towards the road and makes another turn. When he looks back over, Ashton is staring right back, with a bewildered expression painting his pretty face. 

“Shit, I said that outloud, didn’t I?” Luke mentally facepalms at his own stupidity.

Luckily, before Luke could make it any more awkward, they pull into a small children’s playground. Ashton’s face scrunches up, and Luke thinks he looks like a bunny. Fortunately for Luke, his fond thoughts of Ashton stay in his head this time as he pulls the car in the gravel lot. 

“A park?’ Ashton voices his confusion aloud.

“Yeah,” Luke shrugs, “Why not?” 

After parking the car, the two race towards the rusting swing set. Or well, more like Luke running and Ashton laughing at him. The rest of the evening, the two act like children. Swinging until their legs ached, spinning on the roundabout until they were dizzy, and even Luke even got stuck in the twisty slide more than once. As childish as Ashton felt for playing on a child’s playset, he hasn’t felt so free in months. 

Just as the sun begins to set, the two begrudgingly make their way back to Luke’s camaro. 

That’s how Ashton spent the next few weeks. Luke would convince Mr. O’Riley to let Ashton off of work and the two would go to the park or sometimes they would go to Ashton’s favorite diner,  _ Rosie’s _ . Sometimes Luke would sit with Michael and Luke during their shared classes and occasionally would stop by at their table during lunch. 

Luke spent so much time and energy on befriending Ashton, that he had completely forgotten about Calum. 

“Luke Hemmings, are you replacing me?” Calum asks one day as Luke gets his gym bag from his locker. 

Luke shuts his locker before giving Calum the most unamused look, “Me? Replace you, Calum? Seriously?” 

“Well hey, what am I supposed to think? You spend all your time with that Ashton kid and ignore me. I’m bound to make assumptions.” Calum says as the two walk together towards the gymnasium.

“Listen, Cal. I’m only doing this whole ‘be friends with the fag’,” he puts airquotes around the little offensive bit, “to get on Harry’s good side so he’ll let me back on the team.” 

Calum seemed relieved that his best friend wasn’t leaving him for someone else. At ease, Calum goes back to his and Luke’s everyday banter, as if nothing had happened. What Luke didn’t know was that Harry was walking behind them and heard it all. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any thought, comments, questions, or concerns?


	6. Misery Business

_“Second chances they don't ever matter, people never change. Once a whore, you're nothing more. I'm sorry, that'll never change. And about forgiveness, we're both supposed to have exchanged. I'm sorry, honey, but I passed it up, now look this way.” -Paramore_

꧁꧂

All day at school, Harry had been acting strange. Everytime he passed Ashton in the hallways, he looked almost sympathetic. His eyes were sad and his mouth was curved downwards in a frown. Harry looked like Ashton had just told him that his grandmother had died, unsure of how to approach the sensitive topic. 

The thing is, Ashton has no idea what could possibly be wrong to make Harry look so glum. Thinking Harry must’ve just been having a bad day, Ashton merely brushes it off and continues on with his own.

By the time school ends and his shift at O’Riley’s comes, Ashton is exhausted. He had been struggling to sleep through the night lately. Last night had been the worst of it. He listened to music for hours, just trying to fall asleep. He finally drifted off at around 3 before his mom burst through the front door after a long night of partying. Again, it took hours for Ashton to fall back asleep. The sleep didn’t last long though, because soon enough the blaring of his alarm on his phone woke him up. 

His exhaustion had caught up to him twice during the day. Once during lunch, where Michael just let him nap. The other was in geography. He dozed off and was awoken by Luke annoyingly flicking at his ear.

Even with his short-lived naps, Ashton is still struggling to stay awake and alert as he restocks shelves. He finally found an old bucket that he now stands on so he can reach the upper shelves without too much of a strain. 

“I guess you don’t need me anymore.” Luke comments. 

“Yeah sorry, but this bucket is a little more reliable than you.” Ashton snarkily replies as he steps down from the makeshift platform to grab more items out of the box on the floor. 

“Ouch,” Luke slaps a hand over his heart, “I am truly wounded, Ash.” 

Ashton turns to look over his shoulder, eyebrow quirked, “Ash?” 

Luke sputters and his face turns red as he rubs nervously at the back of his neck, “Is that okay?”

Ashton just shrugs his shoulders indecisively. Luke decides it better than him flatout hating it and he walks over and helps Ashton put the items away. He holds the box in the air as the other boy stocks them neatly on the shelves. The two work in an easy rhythm, like a well oiled machine. In no time, the box is empty and Ashton and Luke make their way towards the back room to put away the bucket and dispose of the empty box. 

  
  


After locking up the back room, Luke and Ashton sit up front where the cash registers are. It’s pretty dead inside, so the cashier, Jane, sits on her phone, mindlessly scrolling through Instagram. Her and Ashton are the only employees there, due to how small the store actually is. Harry is supposed to come in soon to switch out with Jane. 

Luke and Ashton are so wrapped up in one another, that they don’t notice Harry coming through the automatic doors. The two giggle at the jokes that Luke is making at Mr. O’Riley’s expense as they watch him yell angrily at his phone through the window of his office. 

Both Luke and Ashton startle when Harry interrupts them.

“So when are gonna tell him, huh?” Harry looks furious.

Ashton supposes that’s a commonality anytime Luke’s around him. 

“Oh, hey Harry.” Luke smiles politely, still hoping to get back in the captain's good graces.

“Cut the bullshit, Hemmings. I heard you talking with Hood about Ashton. So, tell him the truth.” Harry sneers, his fists balling up at his sides. 

“The truth about what?” Ashton frowns, eyes darting back and forth between Harry and Luke, waiting for one of them to explain what the hell was going on. 

“Tell him Luke.” Harry insists.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Luke falters, smile fading and etching into panic.

“No?” Harry tilts his head, mockingly. “You don’t remember telling Calum that the only reason you’re being friends with Ashton is to get back on the football team?” 

“Wait, what?” Ashton's voice cracks, his face morphing into sorrow. 

Neither Harry nor Luke say anything. Ashton heard loud and clear what Harry said, but wanted to hear it from Luke himself.

“Tell me he’s lying.” Ashton looks at Luke, eyes glazed over. Ashton knew that Harry wouldn’t lie, but he hoped deep down that he was just using this to get Ashton to stay away from Luke. 

“I um,” Luke swallows, his heart beating heavy in his chest, drowning out what Harry mumbles to Ashton. 

“I can’t believe you would do that,” A lone tear trickles down Ashton’s face. 

The honey-haired boy bites the inside of his cheek to keep himself from letting out a heartbreaking sob. 

Ashton knows he should be outraged right now. Demand Luke to give him a reason why he used him, but Ashton already knew. He was just a ploy for Luke to regain his popularity. He never cared about him. The kind words, the lingering glances, meant absolutely nothing to Luke. How could Ashton have been so naive that the very straight, popular jock would want him in any way, let alone romantically. He felt so stupid that he didn’t question Luke’s motives. He blindly believed that Luke really needed help in English in the beginning. He foolishly concluded that if Luke never actually needed help with his work, that he was trying to get close to Ashton. 

Ashton was spiraling so deep into a whirlpool of self-pity, that he didn’t even realize he was sobbing loudly. Luke wasn’t there anymore and the lone customer was staring. Ashton can hear Harry whisper something soothing into his ear, but his brain doesn’t register anything but the calming tone. The senior leads his coworker into the back corner of the store, where the small break room is. Opening the door, Harry stears Ashton towards one of the plastic chairs in the corner.

The next 15 minutes or so are full of Ashton’s self-deprecating thoughts and many tears. The crying has made his cheeks wet and his throat burn.The entire time, Harry rubbed soothing circles in his back and attempted to calm him down with minimal success. He’s so caught up in wallowing in his self-pity, that he doesn’t even realize that Harry had called someone and that said someone is looming over him, concerned and ready to help.

“You think you can take care of him while I work?” Harry asks the person in the room with them.

“Of course I can Harold, who do you take me for?” The person answers.

Ashton recognized that voice slightly, so he blinked the tears welling up in his eyes and saw a familiar, but not well known, face. Well, it appears that Luke’s little outburst in Chemistry hadn’t ruined anything between Harry and his best friend, because standing in the flesh is none other than Louis Tomlinson himself. He looks gorgeous if Ashton did say so himself, but he always did. 

When Ashton looks up, Louis gives him a gentle smile, that radiates comfort and safety. When Ashton was younger, this was a smile that his mother often gave him, warm and calming. Louis reaches out and holds onto Ashton’s hand, hoisting him up to stand. 

“How about you come hang out with me for a bit, yeah?” Louis pulls Ashton close to his side. 

Ashton only meekly nods as Louis leads him out of the store and into his car. Ashton was glad that he always walked to work, because it would’ve been a hassle to come back for his car later. 

The ride to Louis’ house is a relatively short one. Louis doesn’t try to make Ashton talk, just hums softly as they drive down the street. Ashton sits slumped against the door, his head resting on the warm window. Louis turns into a nicer neighborhood that Ashton had never been to. Louis’ house isn’t huge like some of the ones that they passed on the way, but it was beautiful. It reminded Ashton of Mrs. Johnson’s house, but thinking about the house that's next door to hers and the person who lives in it, Ashton is sent into a new whirlwind of tears. 

The front yard is beautifully adorned with a simple rose bed and some statues. A purple bike rests against the side of the house and a white tricycle sits next to it. 

“Come on, love.” Louis urges Ashton gently when he doesn’t get out of the car immediately.

Stepping through the front door, Ashton is enveloped in a calming aura. Louis’ house is everything that he wishes his own was. Instead of the smell of spilled booze and alcohol, there was fresh linens and a fruity air freshener plugged into the wall. Cute baby pictures and family photos line the walls and finger paintings cover the refrigerator. Toys litter the living room floor and Ashton has never felt so at home in a random place. 

“Sorry about the mess. I’ve got 5 younger siblings and they’re quite the handful.” Louis kicks a stray toy car out of the way so that no one steps on it and continues leading them up the stairs. 

“Well at least we have the house to ourselves for a while or at least ‘till the guys come over.” Louis tells Ashton over his shoulder.

Ashton assumes that “the guys” are the other three boys that Louis and Harry regularly hang out with. Ashton never really spoke with any of them. Niall, like Louis and Harry, is in Ashton’s art class and always makes everyone in their class laugh. Liam is the goalie for the school’s soccer team, and is lined up for a full scholarship to Clemson next fall and is super popular among the girls, but is also very sweet and respectful. Ashton didn’t know a ton about Zayn. He seemed quiet and reserved. Ashton did like his sense of style though, with his black jeans, piercings, tattoos, and leather jackets, he’s the masucline embodiment of Ashton’s dream aesthetic. 

  
  


Louis leads them into his room. It’s simple with light grey walls and posters and pictures along the walls. Just as Louis tells Ashton to make himself comfortable, the sound of the front door slamming open startles them. 

“I’m here bitch!” Calls an Irish accented voice from the front door. 

“One moment please,” Louis sticks out a finger, indicating for Ashton to wait.

The senior rolls his eyes and stomps out of the room to the top of the stair.

“How many times do I have to tell you?” Louis hollars down the stairs, “Don’t slam the front door!”

“Sorry, sorry,’ The voice apologizes as it makes it way closer, climbing up the stairs.

A moment later, Louis comes in, his blonde friend behind him. The blonde gives Ashton a skeptical look before nodding towards him.

“Who the hell is that?” The blonde asks, as if Ashton just sitting there was offensive.

“Niall! Don’t be such a dick!” Louis chastises as he sits next to Ashton on the end of the bed.

“Wait a minute, I know who you are,” Niall points towards Ashton, “You're that junior in our senior art class that’s like wicked good at drawing and shit.” 

“Oh, thanks,” Ashton smiles a bit at the compliment. 

The exchange is interrupted by a knocking on the front door. Both Louis and Niall sigh as Louis walks over towards his window that overlooks the front lawn. Louis clicks the child lock off of the window and pops it open before leaning out.

“We go through this everytime Liam! You’ve been coming here for years, you don’t have to knock anymore.” Louis shakes his head at the person below before leaning back inside and pulling the window shut

Louis plops down on the bed next to Ashton as the sounds of someone walking up the stairs echos through the upstairs. Liam Payne walks through the door with a soft smile. 

“Hi, guys,” Liam greets as he toes off his shoes and neatly places them in the corner of Louis’ room.

“Ashton, right?” Liam asks.

Ashton nods in return and tries to paste on a fake smile. 

Liam reached out his hand for Ashton to shake. Ashton is surprised how soft his hand is. He expected it to be rough and calloused from years of being a goalie, but it's incredibly soft as it enveloped Ashton’s much smaller one.

“I’m Liam,” the boy introduces. 

That was obvious, Ashton thought. Liam was possibly one of the most popular guys in school and pretty much everyone knew him. Ashton thinks it’s sweet though, that he did introduce himself. 

“Nice to meet you,” Ashton says awkwardly before dropping Liam’s hand.

  
  


The three seniors sit and gossip like a bunch of middle-aged moms at the hairdresser. Ashton learns that after Harry was outed and Louis heard, the pair talked it out and are now dating. Ashton is happy for them. He always noticed Harry’s constant pinning and is glad to know that 

his unlikely friend is happy. 

“So, what you Ashton, you got a boyfriend?“ Niall pipes up. 

“Oh no, nothing like that,“ Ashron frowns at his hands folded in his lap. 

“You want one?“ Niall asks in a suggestive tone, waggling his eyebrows playfully.

Ashton’s head snaps up quickly in surprise. 

Louis snorts before throwing a pillow at Niall’s head, “Shut up, Niall.“

Clutching onto the pillow as if he were in serious pain, Niall musters up the most pathetic face, accompanied with a wobbling bottom lip, “What didya do that for?“ 

“You’re fine,” Louis dismisses the Irish lad, merely rolling his eyes at his friend. 

It’s not much longer before someone else climbs the stairs and comes into Louis’ room. The quiet Zayn Malik walks in and sits on the floor next to Niall’s chair. Everyone greets him in their own way and hr nods his own greeting in return. Ashton isn’t sure if he should say anything, so he stays silent. 

Amongst the conversations and Niall munching on Louis’ little sisters’ princess gummies, Louis flicks on the T.V. sitting on his dresser on the far wall of his room, across from the bed. He logs into Nettflix and chooses the first show that pops up on his continue watching list. Tyra Banks and other young models appear on the screen. Everyone watches intently, living for the drama. 

About a half an hour later, they all watch a tearful model get her beautiful long mocha hair butchered into a short pixie cut. The other girls look at her sympathetically as she sniffles in the salon chair. It was kind of odd that they all fretted over this particular model, but no one batted an eye when the last model’s hair was shaved completely off. 

As the four boys watch the model’s transform, Louis pipes up excitedly, 

“We are giving Ashton a makeover!” He cheers happily.

“Uh what?” Ashton turns to look over at Louis who’s sitting next to him.

“You heard me,” Louis quickly stands up from the bed, “up you get!”

Louis hauls Ashton up from the bed and over towards the vanity that Niall lounges at. Louis kicks a hesitant Niall out of the seat in front of the vanity. 

“Some help, Z?” Louis calls over his shoulder to Zayn.

Zayn hurries over as Louis flicks on the ring light and shines it on Ashton. 

\--

1 hour and 10 hand me down outfits from Louis later, Ashton couldn’t believe the way he looked. He was amazed at Louis and Zayn’s makeup skills and how well the outfits that Louis gave him made him look. 

\--

  
  
  
  
  


The next morning, Ashton gets a text from Louis insisting that he comes to pick him for his first day of being a bad bitch. Louis even added the trademark to the end of it. 

Ashton’s fidgets with his fishnet stockings for the third time as he critically eyes himself in the full body mirror attached to the back of his door. He frowns at the shirt that Louis had picked out for him last night. It was cute, in theory. Like if Ashton saw someone else wearing it, then he would definitely compliment them on it. Now though, looking at it laid out on his bed, he’s not so sure. He hopes that the crop-shirt falls lower on him than a typical crop top does. 

He rolls the shirt up and maneuvers it over his head, trying his best to avoid smudging the eye makeup that he had spent 45 minutes on. He smooths it down his torso before turning to the mirror once more. He frowns when he sees the top doesn’t even pass his navel. He tries pulling it down, but it bunches back up once he lets go. Sighing, he gives up on the shirt and picks up the bottoms that Louis had picked out. They were low-rise, black denim shorts that didn’t make it more than a few inches down his thighs. 

He pivots so he can see his backside in the mirror, twisting and turning to get a better angle. He nearly screamed when there was only mere inches between his asscheeks and the seam of his shorts. Now, Ashton was all about the saying “shake what your mama gave you,” but that didn’t mean he wanted to prance around homophobic assholes while his bum hangs out. 

After inspecting his rear once more, Ashton does notice that it does make his thighs look immaculate. Not to mention that his ass could rival every single girl's in his school, and maybe even Louis’, because damn, did that boy have a nice ass. He had voiced his concerns about his new look to Louis before he left, but Louis repeatedly reassured him that it would be great.

Just as Ashton ties the laces on his platform vans, he gets a notification for a text message from Louis indicating that he is there. Ashton replies with a thumbs up emoji before slinging his backpack on his shoulder and walking out the door. 

Ashton opens the passenger-side door and gets in. 

“Well, what do you think?” he asks Louis, motioning towards his own outfit.

“I think,” Louis takes a pause to admire Ashton, “that if we weren’t both twinky bottoms, then I would bang the shit out of you.”

“Gross, Lou! Don’t say shit like that,” Ashton grimaces.

Louis smiles and rolls his eyes playfully as he puts his car in drive and backs out of the driveway.

\--

Ashton strays behind Louis as the pair make their way into the building. They walk together until the hallway forks into separate corridors.

Louis turns towards Ashton and grabs him by the shoulders, “You’ll be fine, love. You look stunning, okay? Don’t worry.” 

Ashton lets out a puff of air that he didn’t realize he was holding as he nods his head, “Okay. Thanks, Louis.” Ashton smiles warmly at the senior.

“My personal pleasure. Just shoot me a text if you need anything, alright?” 

Ashton nods before departing from his friend, going to the junior’s hall while Louis goes to the senior’s.

He shakes out his hands, feeling them getting clammy. His heartbeat booms loudly in his ringing ears as he passes the first section of students. He feels like running back down the hall as his classmates stare. He braces himself for the ridiculing and the harsh whispers, but they never come. Instead, he hears gasps, whistles, cat calls, and compliments. 

“Oh my God, Ashton! You look incredible!” His classmate, a girl everyone calls Lizzo, begins to gush, followed by her group of friends. 

“Th-thanks,” Ashton shyly averts his eyes towards his shoes, but is sure to give her a warm, kind smile. 

The group of girls continue to fawn over him. They praise his makeup and compliment his outfit. He tells them it was the work of Louis’ genius and they insist that he gives them Louis’ number. He politely tells them no, saying that he wouldn’t want to give it out without his permission. 

Ashton’s moment of being gushed over is interrupted. 

“Ash?” 

His best friend calls, almost as if he wasn’t sure it was really his introverted friend being the center of positive attention. 

“Um, talk to you later,” Ashton politely brushes off the girls in favor of talking to his friend.

“Well you look different,” Michael deadpans with a straight face. 

Ashton begins to panic, unsure of what to make of Michael’s reaction, “Is that good or bad?” 

Michael’s face breaks out into a huge grin, “I’d say it’s pretty fuckin’ good!” 

Michael raises his hand for a high five which Ashton happily supplies.

Michael walks Ashton to his locker, aware that his friend is being stared at by everyone. Michael found it kind of funny that even the apparent straight boys were staring. He would expect them to glare, but not openly check Ashton out and he says as much. 

Ashton just shrugs as they stop in front of his locker, “Who cares? As long as they’re not being dicks, they can do whatever they want.”

Michael nods his head and they break down his outfit, which turns into a debate on whose band t-shirt is better (Ashton wouldn’t listen to his friend slander his Green Day shirt and praise his own Blink-182 one)

The two trade playful banter when someone comes up to him. 

“Hi there,” the person says.

Ashton and Michael both turn around to see one of the school’s golden boys, Noah Greene, standing there smiling at Ashton. 

“I just wanted to say that you look really beautiful,” Noah compliments before walking down the hallway, leaving both Michael and Ashton shocked. 

“I can’t believe he just talked to you,” Michael gasps.

“Yeah, me neither,” Ashton responds, red in the face. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	7. Black

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for a really short chapter... the next one is a bit longer than usual so it should make up for it :).

_ I know someday you'll have a beautiful life. I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky. But why, why, why can't it be. Oh can't it be mine?” -Pearl Jam _

꧁꧂  
  


After spending that afternoon full of ANTM and makeovers, Ashton found that he really enjoyed hanging out with Harry’s friends. As much as he loves Michael, Ashton longs for more friends to hang out with. Louis was perfect for fashion advice and boy troubles. Niall was great for a good time and for a laugh. Liam was very overprotective and the responsible one of the group, making sure everyone was taken care of. Zayn was very quiet and easy to just chill with. And Ashton has known Harry the longest, he’s loyal and protective. Each of the five were distinctly different from the others, but that’s what made them great and Ashton longed to hang out with them again. So, when lunch rolls around, Ashton and Michael both are ecstatic when Harry walks over to them and invites them to sit at his table. 

The two hurriedly agree and follow Harry to his table. Ashton is quick to introduce Michael to everyone. It doesn’t take long before Niall and Michael are exchanging phone numbers and friendly banter, making the whole table erupt into fits of laughter. The rest of lunch, Michael and Niall are rowdy and continue to make everyone smile. 

The rest of the day goes relatively smoothly. People gush over Ashton’s new style and try to befriend him (he doesn’t really want to be friends with any of them, because they seem superficial). 

The end of the day is rolling around, which means 8th period geography is rapidly approaching. Not that Ashton has a problem with Geography or even the teacher, but this was the period where he was alone with Luke, without Michael or any of his other friends to buffer. So, as soon as the bell signaling the end of art rings, Ashton collects his books and begrudgingly heads towards his locker to collect his Geography book and notes. 

“Hey Ashton,” A voice from behind Ashton’s locker startles the boy.

Ashton closes his locker and is face to face with Noah Greene. His face flushes bright red at the proximity of the popular boy. 

“H-hi, Noah,” Ashton shyly smiles up.

“You have geography next right? I could walk you, if you’d like.” Noah offers.

“Sure,” Ashton grins down at his shoes.

The two walk in silence down the hallway. Ashton was nervous to start any kind of conversation, afraid he would say something completely idiotic and embarrasing. Or worse, Noah was just using him for his own personal gain just as Luke had. Ashton tries to shoo those intrusive thoughts out of his head. Not every guy was a selfish, egotistical, asshole like Luke, so Ashton knew that what happened was a rare occurrence and it wasn’t likely that Noah, or anyone else for that matter, would do to him what Luke did. 

Ashton notices that people are whispering about him and Noah walking side by side down the hallway. Ashton felt strange with all eyes on him all day. It was an odd feeling to know that his peers actually notice him now and he isn’t just some shadow fading into the background. 

Noah stops in front of Mr. Walker’s Geography room and looks down at Ashton, “I’ll see you later, Ashton.”

Ashton is left with butterflies in his stomach as he makes his way to his seat towards the back of the room. He pulls out his notebook and begins to doodle for the next few minutes before the teacher starts class. He’s so focused on his daydreams and doodles, that he doesn’t notice someone sitting in front of him. 

“Who’s Noah? Oh, you mean Noah Greene,” Luke says as he stares at Ashton’s art on the margin of his notes.

Ashton snaps out of his stupor to see that he had written Noah’s name in beautiful calligraphy amongst his many doodles. Ashton just ignores Luke’s comment and hopes he gets the memo and goes away.

Well, Luke doesn’t seem to get the memo. Turned completely around in his chair, Luke lays his hands on Ashton’s desk and rests chin on top of them. He takes his left hand out from under his chin and brings it up to Ashton’s notebook. He traces Noah’s name absentmindedly with his fingertip as sighs.

“You should stay away from him, Ash. He’s not a good guy.” 

The jock warns as he continues to trace the name. 

Ashton gets angry. How dare Luke try to tell Ashton what to do? It’s not like Luke actually cares about Ashton or his well being, so who’s he to say who Ashton sees or not. Fuming, Ashton snaps his notebook shut, briefly closing Luke’s finger in between the pages. He abruptly stands up and grabs his belongings.

“Fuck you, Luke. Don’t try to act like you actually care about me,” Ashton sneers before stalking over to the other side of the room. 

\--

After their little conversation during Geography, Ashton makes it a point to ignore Luke. Unfortunately for him, Luke doesn’t seem to care. Any chance the blonde gets, he’s pestering Ashton. It had started on Tuesday with convincing apologies, none of which Ashton accepted. Wednesday is full of warnings against Noah. Thursday, Luke tries to joke around with Ashton just as they used to, but he is sorely disappointed when the only response he receives from Ashton is a middle finger. 

By the time Friday rolls around, Ashton is sick of Luke. 

“It’s getting annoying. Doesn’t he know that the gig is up?” Ashton rolls his eyes as he distractedly stabs at his lunch.

“I could write on his car “stay away from Ashton or die” in sharpie!” Niall enthusiastically supplies.

Ashton giggles at the suggestion, “I appreciate it Niall, but there is no need for vandalism,” 

The excited expression is wiped off of Niall’s face and replaced with a scowl. He angrily stabs at his own lunch while grumbling something along the lines of “He deserves it” and “I never get to have any fun.”

The table laughs at Niall’s ludicrousy. They all talk about ways to get Luke to stay away from Ashton, most including battery or vandalism. Even though Ashton knows that none of them (maybe with the exception of Niall) would actually go through with any of their threats, it was nice knowing that someone besides Michael actually cared about him. As the threats die off Liam speaks up.

“So Michael and Ashton, you’re coming to my Halloween party tomorrow right?” The senior asks.

“Fuck yeah!” Michael screams loudly, his voice echoing off of the cafeteria walls.

“Michael, you are yelling!” Ashton firmly corrects his best friend’s abrasive loudness. 

Michael just merely rolls his eyes before delving into a discussion with Niall about what they are going to dress up as. 

“What about you Ashton,” Louis turns towards the junior.

Ashton hesitates for a moment. He had never been to a highschool party before and was nervous. Was there going to be drinking? Drugs? Strippers? Ew, Ashton sure hoped not. Well, unless it was male strippers, then in that case it would be fine. He was unsettled by the unknowns of it and was about to say no. But, Michael has also never been to a party and he didn’t hesitate to say yes. So why couldn’t Ashton do the same? Everyone turns towards him, expectantly looking at him, just waiting for him to say something.

“I, uh,” Ashton falters.

“Come on, everyone will be there!” Niall tells him excitedly.

He looks over at Louis who has a huge grin plastered on his face as he nods his yes frantically for Ashton to agree.

“I’ll be there,” Ashton tells Liam, who smiles warmly in return.

“Yes!” Louis cheers, “Me and you are going costume shopping after school.” 

\--

For some unknown reason, Luke didn’t try to talk to Ashton for the rest of the day. Besides the awkward eye contact they made in the hallways or when one of them entered a room, they didn’t interact. Ashton thinks it nice to finally have Luke off of his back. The rest of the day is quite boring if Ashton is honest and he’s happy when Louis texts him saying that he’ll pick him up to go shopping around 3. 


	8. Sound of Madness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW WARNING FOR MENTIONS OF RAPE

_ “You think that by cryin' to me. Lookin' so sorry, that I'm gonna believe. You've been infected by a social disease. Well then, take your medicine. I created the sound of madness. Wrote the book on pain. Somehow I'm still here to explain. That the darkest hour never comes in the night. You can sleep with a gun. But when you gonna wake up and fight?” - Shinedown _

  
  
  
꧁꧂

Ashton’s phone dings around noon, notifying him of a text message. 

_ Come to Liam’s ASAP. These idiots are incompetent. _

Ashton reads the message from Louis and groans, before hoisting himself out of bed. He quickly grabs a shower, knowing most likely that he won’t get an opportunity to do so before the party. He doesn’t waste time blow-drying his hair, instead just ruffling it with his towel to collect the excess water. He doesn’t pay much mind to his outfit, just throwing on whatever is at the top of his drawers. 

He texts Louis back with a quick “ _ I’m on my way” _ . He grabs his bag with his costume in it and heads towards the door.

“Where are you going?” A voice startles Ashton.

“To a friends house,” Ashton tells his mother as he flips the lock and opens the front door.

“I need cigarettes,” She calls out.

Ashton rolls his eyes. He should’ve known better than to think his mom was genuinely concerned about where he was going, “Good for you,” Ashton snarkily replies as he shuts the door behind himself. 

Ashton can hear her hollering at him, but he pays her no mind. This was a typical occurrence at Irwin house. His mother would get plastered the night before and be hungover the next morning, taking her discomfort out on Ashton. She was never particularly violent, but always tends to be verbally abusive. 

Once Ashton gets on the road, he internally curses himself for not eating something before leaving. His stomach is growling comically loud, so he pulls up to a convenient store. He whips his grey honda into a tight spot next to the front doors and gives himself a pat on the back for swinging into the space with such ease. 

As he walks in, he’s greeted with a stiff nod from the cashier, who doesn’t even bother looking up from his phone. Ashton makes a beeline for the snack section and picks out a bag of chips before strolling to the back of the store to where the drink coolers are. 

Just as he walks towards the front to pay for his purchases, a familiar car pulls into the lot, parking next to Ashton’s car. Ashton keeps his head down as the cashier rings him up. He hears the door jingle and the sound of a girl giggling. 

“Lukey!” Erika squeals at something that Luke must be doing to her. 

Ashton doesn’t lift his head to find out. He hands the cashier a $5 bill and waits patiently for his change. Quickly dropping his handful of pennies into a jar on the counter for some sort of charity, Ashton tries to quickly leave the store without drawing any attention to himself. He gets so close to escaping without being noticed, but just as pushes on the door open, a voice stops him.

“Ash?” Luke calls out to him.

Ashton reluctantly swivels around to see Luke staring at him. Erika looks less than thrilled to see him and Ashton's feelings towards her are mutual. With a curt nod as a simple acknowledgement, Ashton turns back around and scurries out the door. 

Ashton follows the GPS on his phone to the address that Louis had sent him. Pulling up to Liam's house, Ashton’s in awe. The house is huge and borders on mansion-sized. He parks in the long driveway and shoots Louis a text letting him know he’s there. A few moments go by before the front door is flung open and Louis comes running out. 

“Oh thank God you’re here! They’re trying to hang streamers with a hot glue gun!” Louis pants as he pulls Ashton out of his car and towards the giant doors.

\--

After hours of vigorous decorating, the house is finally ready for guests. Strobe lights hang from the ceilings and fog machines are stuck in corners. Fake cobwebs are adorned so many places that Ashton is afraid that Liam is going to be finding them for months to come. After their successful decorating, it’s nearing time for the people to start showing up, so everyone retires to different rooms to get their costumes on. 

Ashton helps Louis with his costume first. They start with Louis’ makeup. He sticks with a bold eyeliner and a shimmery, gold eyeshadow. Then, for the costume, Louis uses a white bedsheet and wraps it around himself like a Greek toga. Ashton secures the sheet with safety pins in the appropriate places as Louis ties a golden rope around his waist. Strapping sandals around his shins, and placing a golden olive wreath atop of his head, Louis looks like a goddess. Ashton supposes that it’s a good thing, since Louis and Harry are going as Aphrodite and Ares. 

  
  


Next, it’s time for Ashton’s makeup. Not much is done since half of his face is going to be covered with a mask, so Louis just applies some deep burgundy lipstick to Ashton's lips and a tad of highlighter to the tip of his nose. Just as they finish up Ashton’s makeup, Louis gets a text from Harry saying that people are starting to show up and for them to hurry. 

Ashton is quick to change into his costume. He steps into his leather bodysuit, zipping it about half way up his chest. The faux leather squeaks each time he moves but he supposes that was to be expected. Next, he slips on a pair of heeled leather boots that Louis had brought for him to borrow. As Ashton reaches for his mask, Louis swats his hand away.

“Let me do it, or you’ll ruin your makeup,” Louis demands and slips the mask over Ashton’s head and secures it around his eyes. 

As he puts on the clawed gloves, he can hear shouts of people from downstairs. The shouts are soon drowned out by music flowing from the speakers that Liam had set up all around the house. 

Checking themselves in their mirror, both Ashton and Louis grin at their costumes. The both of them look stunning as Athena and Catwoman. When Ashton had first seen the costume at the mall, he didn’t even think about wearing it, figuring it wouldn’t flatter him. Well, Louis had totally disagreed and insisted that he bought it. Ashton knew better than to argue with Louis and trusted his judgement. Now, as he looks in the mirror, he knows to never doubt Louis again when it comes to fashion. 

\--

The party is full swing and Ashton is bored out of his mind. He has no idea where Louis went and if he had to guess, he was probably doing something with Harry that Ashton didn’t want to know about. He briefly talked with Michael when he showed up, but now, he and Niall are playing beer pong with Liam and Zayn and Ashton didn’t feel like hanging around the table like a loser, so he sits alone on the couch. Like a loser. 

He sighs and takes a sip from his drink. He tips the red solo cup back and finds it empty, so he stands up from his spot on the couch and heads towards the kitchen where all the alcohol is. After pouring himself beer from a keg on the kitchen counter, Ashton treks back towards his spot on the couch. As he makes his way into the living room, the crowd of party goers cheer at the arrival of a newcomer.

Through the front foyer walks Luke with Erika plastered to his side. Ashton feels a splurge of jealousy coursing through him at the sight of the two. Their matching costumes as Hugh Hefner and a playboy bunny made Ashton angry. He downs the drink that he had just made and crushes the empty plastic cup in his fist and stomps back towards the kitchen to get another one.

Ashton is so blinded by his unjustifiable rage, he nearly plows over the other person in the kitchen. Ashton collides with a solid body and nearly goes tumbling to the ground. He braces himself for the fall, but a strong arm catches him.

“Woah, easy there,” the person who catches him says.

Ashton looks up and sees Noah holding onto him, trying to keep him from falling over. 

“Sorry about that,” Ashton meekly apologizes as he straightens himself out.

Ashton can feel Noah’s eyes linger over his body. His face heats up under the heavy gaze. The two stand there for a moment, just taking each other in until they’re interrupted by someone clearing their throat. 

“Hey Ashy!” Louis stumbles in and throws an arm around Ashton, “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“Sorry, I needed a drink,” Ashton nods towards the keg on the counter.

“Here,” Noah extends his hand out towards Ashton, “have mine.”

Ashton takes the drink without a second thought, smiling his thanks before Louis drags him off towards the beer pong table where Niall and Harry stand rearranging the cups. 

“Wanna play?” Louis asks.

Ashton shrugs and stands on the far side of the table. He peels his gloves off, afraid the fake claws would get in the way. After the cups are rearranged, Niall joins Ashton on his side of the table and Harry joins Louis. The game is close. Louis and Harry are an amazing team and sink most of the balls they throw. As good as they are, Niall is better. Add Niall’s unmatched beer pong wizardry and Ashton’s beginners luck, the two just beat their opponents by one cup that Ashton sunk. 

Excited, Ashton throws himself in Niall’s arms, who twirls them around in a circle. After the game, Ashton is well on his way to being drunk. His surroundings are a bit fuzzy and he knows that he’s stumbling as he leads Niall out onto the makeshift dance floor. He can’t help but grind against any bodies that surround him. Luckily those bodies only happen to belong to Zayn and Niall. 

Ashton is having the time of his life. Sometime during the dancing, he had taken off his mask and thrown it to the ground. As the sweat rolls down his temple, he feels Niall move slightly out from behind him and someone move in between them. Not thinking much of it, he continues to grind up against the person behind him. He giggles to himself when he feels them getting hard. Figuring he’s doing something right, Ashton doubles his efforts as the person crowds him in. 

“Look at you, slut.” The person heavily whispers into Ashton’s ear.

Ashton recognized Luke’s voice anywhere. His lips graze the shell of Ashton’s ear, making him shiver. Ashton can smell the booze on Luke’s breath, but his intoxicated mind doesn’t register it. The blonde’s hands rest on Ashton’s hips as he pulls the shorter boy flush against his own body, lining them up closely. 

“I saw you whoring around with Noah Greene. You knew that I was watching,” Luke growls in Ashton’s ear before he pulls on the earlobe with his teeth. 

A moan threatens to escape from the back of Ashton’s throat as he frantically denies the statement with a shake of his head. 

“Liar,” is all that Luke says before dragging Ashton away from the party, up the stairs, and into an empty bedroom. 

Luke pushes Ashton on the bed as he shuts the door behind him. He clumsily falls on top of the smaller boy, trapping Ashton against the bed. Luke’s eyes are incredibly dark and Ashton faintly remembers this look, but he doesn’t remember from where. The once bright blue eyes are now as dark as the late night sky outside the window. 

For the first time, Luke captures Ashton’s lips in a searing kiss, leaving them both breathless. The two fight for dominance over the kiss and Luke wins it easily. The jock's hands travel down and squeeze at Ashton’s thighs, hooking them around his own waist. Ashton whines when Luke pulls away, only to attach his lips under Ashton’s jaw. The twink feels himself stiffening up, tenting his leather suit. He moans as he feels Luke work a mark on his neck. 

In no time, they're both winded and desperate for more. Ashton can feel Luke’s hand begin to unzip his suit. The zipper gets about halfway down Ashton’s stomach before the door bursts open and a voice is screaming.

“Oh my God! What the fuck, Luke?” Erika squeals from the doorway. 

Startled, Luke jumps up from the bed, whipping off the spit from his lips. Erika turns and runs off. 

“Erika, wait. Please!” Luke frantically sprints after her.

She clunks down the stairs in her heels and Luke follows behind her, “It isn’t what you think! He came onto me!” Luke tries to explain.

Erika stops at the bottom of the stairs and turns to Luke, “So he raped you? Well then I guess you won’t have a problem with me telling everyone.”

“Erika don’t-” Luke tries but is interrupted by Erika’s loud voice booming over the music.

“Everyone listen up!” Erika cups her hands around her mouth, “Cut the music!”

Some pauses the music, leaving the room quite. Everyone seems confused at why the music stopped, wondering if Liam’s parents had come home early to bust the party.

“I just thought that everyone should know that, that little skany twink Ashton Irwin just tried to rape Luke, my boyfriend,” Erika motions towards Luke, who stands there quiet and stunned.

Just as Erika announces the lie, Ashton comes stumbling down the stairs. Hair disheveled and suit halfway unzipped. His eyes water up at the ludicrous statement and he begins to sob people look at him in disgust. Ashton runs past Luke and Erika in hopes of finding Louis or Michael, but doesn’t make it very far. Just as he turns towards the kitchen, he’s met with a heavy blow to the side of his head. 

Everything is black, Ashton feels nauseous, his head hurts so bad, and he’s laying on something hard. He struggles to open his eyes and he looks at a bunch of people looking down at him. He feels his head being cradled by someone as they whisper soothing words to him and he recognizes the voice as Niall. He can hear someone struggling towards the right. Looking over, Ashton sees Calum Hood trying hard to get towards him. The only thing stopping him is Harry and Liam, who hold him back. Scared that Calum might strike again, Ashton springs up from Niall’s comforting embrace and runs past the crowd and out the front door.

He runs and runs for what seems like hours. His legs are sore and he’s starting to get cold. Not to mention the constant pounding in his head. Running around the streets at 2 am is not the ideal situation for a twink like Ashton in a leather bodysuit. He gets cat calls from creepy men (and even a woman) that drive past him. He nearly gets run over by his Chemistry teacher Ms.Baker as she erratically drives 65 miles per hour in a 30 mph zone as she blasts what even drunk Ashton recognizes as Queen. 

His legs are about to give out when the headlights of a car approach him. Ashton is cautious of the car and is sure to pay it close mind in case it tries to stop for him. He doesn’t expect it to actually stop and he’s about to make a run for it, when a voice calls out to him. 

“Ashton? Is that you?” Noah calls from the window rolled down on the passenger side of his car.

Ashton is relieved that it's only his classmate and sighs. He continues walking down the street, not getting the memo that Noah had slowed down so Ashton could get in the car.

“Get in, I’ll take you home.” Noah tells Ashton gently.

Too sore and drunk to decline, Ashton nods his head and walks towards the car. He buckles up and thanks Noah for stopping. After typing his home address into the built-in GPS on Noah’s dashboard, Ashton rests his head against the cool glass of the car window as Noah drives.

The two ride in a comfortable silence until Noah stops the car in front of Ashton’s house. He puts the car in park and unlocks the cars.

“Thanks again,” Ashton smiles, “You didn’t have to stop, but you did anyway.” 

Ashton unbuckles and pulls the handle to open the door. Just as he puts a foot out the door, he’s stopped by Noah.

“Just so you know, I don’t think that you raped Luke.” Noah reassures him.

Ashton faintly smiles back. He’s happy that at least someone doesn’t think so. Ashton bids Noah a goodnight before getting out. He walks up through his front yard and waves at Noah before stepping through his front door. 

Closing the door behind him, Ashton is met with an empty house. He isn’t surprised, so he treks up stairs. He strips from his costume and hangs it up in his closet and switches out the restricting leather for a loose, oversized cotton t-shirt and a pair of baby pink, silk shorts. Just as he wipes off the lipstick from his mouth, there’s a knock at his front door. He reluctantly goes down his stairs and towards the front door. Checking through the peephole first, Ashton is relieved to see its only Michael. When he opens the door, he’s greeted by not only Michael, but 3 others with overnight bags strapped over their shoulder. 

“What are you guys doing here?” Ashton asks the 4 standing outside his house.

“Coming for a sleepover, duh.” Niall moves past him and into Ashton’s house.

\--

Ashton, Michael, Niall, Harry and Louis all pile up in Ashton’s full-size bed. Well, 5 teenage boys don’t exactly fit comfortably in that size bed, so Harry sleeps on the floor as Michael spoons Ashton and Ashton spoons Louis, leaving Niall curled up in a ball at the foot of the bed.

By the time morning comes, they all have stiff necks and crooks in their backs. 

  
  


“So hungry, not gonna make it!” Niall screeches into the room loudly, waking everyone else up.

“Me too,” Michael grumbles, “Ashton, make us waffles!” 

That is what started the debate between Ashton and Harry about who could make the better waffle, which naturally turned into a cookoff. It ended up being a split decision. Michael said that Harry’s was better, Louis saids that Ashton’s was better, and Niall was indecisive, saying a waffle is a waffle before binge eating several off of the large stack.

As the boys eat their breakfast, the doorbell ringing startles them. With a mouth full of waffles, Harry gets up and offers to answer it. Chewing the food in his mouth, Harry opens the door without checking through the peephole first. 

“What the fuck do you want?” Harry turns red when he sees Luke standing at the front door.

“I came to talk to Ash,” Luke stands his ground firmly, not letting his fear of the captain waver him.

“Go fuck yourself!” Harry slams the door, leaving Luke dumbfounded. 

Harry tries to calm himself down before walking back over to the table. He takes a few deep breaths and then sits in his spot next to Louis.

“Who was at the door?’ Ashton asks.

“Oh, uh,” Harry quickly tries to think of a lie that doesn’t include Luke, “just some kids pulling a prank.”

Satisfied with the answer, Ashton nods. The rest of the table goes back to eating and Harry glowers as he thinks about Luke trying to talk to Ashton again.

  
  
  



	9. So Cold

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for allegations of rape

_ “You're so cold, keep your hand in mine. Wise men wonder while strong men die. Show me how it ends, it's alright. Show me how defenseless you really are. Satisfied and empty inside. That's alright, let's give this another try” -Breaking Benjamin _ __

꧁꧂

Ashton had naively thought that Erika’s untruthful announcement at the party would be forgotten by Monday. He was very, very wrong. He can’t walk down the halls without people whispering and pointing. Some send him glaring daggers and others yell “rapist’’. 

He narrowly avoids people in the hallways by taking the halls that freshmen usually occupy. None of the freshmen seem to know about what happened, because, aside from some odd glances at a junior in a freshmen hall, no one bats him an eye. 

During classes, people still stare and whisper, but no one dares say anything loud enough, in fear of being heard by the teacher. His four morning classes go by as smoothly as they can, even though there are several moments where Ashton feels like he’s going to break down and cry. 

The last minutes of French tick by slowly. Ashton nervously begins to anticipate the lunch bell as he watches the clock hand inch forward each second. He tries to think of a way to get out of there before the hallways flood with students. Even if he were to hurry, he’s in the back of the classroom, so by the time he would get out the door, the hallways would be bustling with students trying to get to lunch. 

Knowing his only option is to leave class early, Ashton reluctantly raises his hand.

“Oui, Ashton?” Madam Le Gall acknowledges Ashton’s hand.

“May I use the restroom?” 

The teacher nods her head and Ashton wastes no time collecting his things and hurrying towards the door. He narrowly misses an outstretched leg that is intended to send him sprawled out, face down on the floor. He can hear the harsh whispers and vile names being spat at him and he tries his damndest to not cry. 

He succeeds and makes his way to his locker. A broken sob escapes him when he sees the word  _ RAPIST  _ scrawled on his locker in red paint. He drops his books before sprinting to the restroom. As he runs, tears well up in his eyes, clouding his vision. If he didn’t know the halls of the school so well, he might’ve gotten lost as he blindly turns corners until he reaches his haven. 

He aggressively pushes the door to the restroom open and begins to violently sob, unbeknownst to the person washing his hands at the sink. He crumbles to the floor and begins to shake with each heart-wracking sob. He faintly registers the shrill sound of the bell.

“Ash?” Luke walks over and squats to level with the boy on the floor. He holds Ashton in his arms, trying to get him to calm down.

Ashton recognized that voice anywhere, so he flinches then recoils from the touch.

“S-stay away from me! I don’t want you telling p-people that- that I raped you again.” 

Luke stumbles back a bit in shock, “I-I didn’t tell her that you raped me, Ashton.” 

Ashton lets out a wet laugh, void of any humor, “Right,” Ashton rolls his eyes, “because the first conclusion a girl makes when she catches her boyfriend making out with another boy is that he is being raped,” 

Ashton stands himself up from off the floor and walks over to the mirrors hanging about the sinks. He wipes the mascara that had smudged below his eyes from his tears. After composing himself, Ashton sees Luke standing behind him, so he glares the reflection in the mirror, “Liar,” 

The shorter boy harshly brushes past the other, allowing Luke the opportunity to grab onto his wrist, preventing his from leaving “I’ll tell everyone that you didn’t rape me. I-I’ll say that Erika was too drunk to remember what happened properly.” 

Ashton snatches his arm away as if it had been burned as he narrows his eyes disapprovingly, “As you should,” he says as he makes his way towards the door.

“What, not even a thank you?” Luke tries to sound cocky, as if he isn’t just as emotional as Ashton is.

“Fuck you Luke. I’m not going to thank you for putting an end to a rumor that you and your girlfriend started,” Ashton hurries out the door, not leaving Luke any chance to retort.

Once the door closes after Ashton, Luke lets out a yell, “Fuck!” 

He grabs at his hair and pulls it his fists, trying to prevent himself from doing something stupid. He doesn’t know what he always has to act like such a prick around Ashton. He misses their short period of friendship and somewhere deep and hidden within him, wished for something more with the boy. 

It made it angry beyond reason that Erika had told the entire party that Ashton raped him and now the entire school believes it. Not one person had come up to him and asked him to confirm or deny, just assuming the rumors are true. If anyone had asked what really happened, Luke didn’t know if he would tell the truth. No, he knew he couldn’t, but he would make up another story so no one thought Ashton was a rapist.

It was bullshit, really. Ashton was so much smaller than Luke, that if he had tried to do something that Luke didn’t like, then Luke would have no problem overpowering him. But, apparently no one has reason in the face of gossip. Luke wonders what people are saying. Have they called Ashton out? Called him names that were far from true?  _ Oh God,  _ Luke thinks,  _ That's why he was crying. _

Thinking about Ashton being so defenceless to the nasty words thrown at him, to the point of breaking down and crying, makes Luke violent. He sees nothing but red as he frantically searches the room for something to pummel. His eyes land on his own reflection in the metallic paper towel dispenser hanging on the wall. He strides over to it and braces his left hand on the wall beside it before dishing rapid punches to the metal box. The surface dents after the first blow, causing ripples in Luke’s reflection staring mockingly back at him. Luke only stops his assault when the dispenser falls off the wall with a pathetic thud. The mangled metal now sits in a heap on the floor, layered in Luke’s blood. He kicks it, sending it ricocheting off of the other wall before he crumbles to the ground, his head held in his mangled hand. 

\--

As Ashton leaves the bathroom, he can hear Luke throwing a tantrum through the door. If he wasn’t so upset from their encounter, then he probably would’ve laughed at the ludicrousy of Luke’s childish behavior. Ashton is so caught up on his and Luke’s quarrel, that he nearly forgets the real problem at hand. He mindlessly strolls into the cafeteria and the bellowing of the rowdy students die upon his arrival. 

Ashton feels the bile threatening to come up his throat as everyone stares at him, menacingly. The silence doesn’t last long before someone shouts, “Ashton is a rapist,” which causes a whirlwind of reactions. Some yell “rapist” at him, some just laugh, one person throws a half eaten banana at him, narrowly missing his head. 

Despite the chaos and pure humiliation, Ashton can’t bring himself to move. His legs are numb, so much so that he isn’t quite sure how he’s still supporting his own weight on them. Ashton doesn’t know how much more he can take before becoming physically ill. Luckily he doesn’t have to endure it any longer when a shout from within the cafeteria is heard.

“Leave ‘im alone, ya savages!” An angry Irish voice shouts. The room falls quite once more. Everyone, including Ashton, snap their hands towards Ashton’s defender. Niall stands high in the air, his dirty converse planted on the tabletop from which they eat. “If anyone got raped on Saturday, it was Ashton. I saw Luke draggin’ him off to God knows where, not the other way ‘round.” Niall huffs before hopping down from the table and walking over to Ashton. He takes Ashton by the arm and drags him towards their group. The eyes of everyone in the cafeteria following them down the rows of tables. 

They almost get there before someone blocks their passage, “So did Luke rape  _ you _ , Ashton?” some junior, that Ashton honestly didn’t know the name of, inquires.

“U-uh,” Ashton’s gaze downcasts towards his shoes, “n-no. It’s just a big misunderstanding.” 

“So Erika is lying?” The junior asks.

“Who the hell knows?” Niall interupts, “That or she was too drunk off her arse to tell the difference between consenual kissing and rape.”

“I am not a liar!” A voice comes from the other side of the cafeteria. Everyone's heads whip around to see Erika standing next to her table, arms crossed and a scowl etched on her face. “I know what I saw and I’m going to the police after school.” 

“Go fuck yerself, ya pertenious twit!” Niall barks across the room, then drags Ashton the rest of the way to their lunch table.

Ashton takes his seat next between Michael and Louis. His senior friend wraps a comforting and protective arm around him. Ashton leans in and tries his hardest to stop his tears, “A-am I going to prison?”

“Of course not, love,” Louis wipes a tear from Ashton’s cheek, “She’s just upset that she found her so-called straight boyfriend getting hot and heavy with another bloke.”

\--

The rest of Monday seems to fade into a blur after the tiny skirmish in the lunch hall. No one bothers him except the few that are kind enough to ask him if he was okay. By the time Tuesday hits, it seems that everyone has forgotten the whole situation. No one really pays Ashton any mind. He still has his friends being overly protective though, which is a nice thought except he feels like Niall and Mikey are suffocating him with how close they insist on staying next to him. 

Even though Luke technically was still off the football team, he seemed to regain his popularity. Ashton has seen less and less of Erika around Luke, but he doesn’t think it means anything. 

It seems as though things were starting to go relatively back to normal, whatever that meant. Sure, Ashton was talked about a lot more and he and Michael were now friends with the most popular kids in the whole school, but other than that, things were becoming less dramatic. 

\--

“You ever wonder if the first moon landing was faked?” Niall asks as they all pick at their lunches.

“Sometimes, yeah,” Michael answers and the two delve into a huge discussion about it until someone interrupts.

“Uh, can I talk to you, Ashton?” Calum Hood shyly asks.

Michael, Niall, and Louis all jump up to attack Calum, wanting to seek revenge for the sucker punch he delivered to Ashton at the Halloween party. Liam, Zayn, and Harry all jump up to stop them before they cause too much trouble.

“It’s fine guys,” Ashton tries to calm Louis, Niall, and Michael down.

“Whatever you need to say to Ashton, you can say right here,” Louis squares up the best he can with Harry holding around his waist. 

“Oh okay. I just wanted to apologize for punching you. I just heard that you did something to Luke and my emotions got the best of me. So, I’m sorry.” Calum stares down at his feet.

**“** Don’t worry about it. If I thought someone had touched my best friend, then I would’ve done the same thing, if not worse.” Ashton warmly smiles.

“I just wish Luke would act like the guy that I’m best friends with,” Calum sighs as he longingly looks at Luke sitting with some of the guys from the football team and Erika in his lap.

“You could hang out with us, if you’d like,” Ashton offers kindly. 

That is how the group of 7 became 8. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me your thoughts about the chapter, feedback would be a huge help :) Thanks!


	10. The Bleeding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this one is a bit short :/

_ “I remember when all the games began. Remember every little lie and every last goodbye. Promises you broke, words you choked on. And I never walked away, it's still a mystery to me. Well I'm so empty, I'm better off without you and you're better off without me. Well you're so unclean, I'm better off without you and you're better off without me” - Five Finger Death Punch _

  
  
꧁꧂

Who does Noah Greene think he is? He just swoops Ashton away as Luke has to watch them from the sidelines. Luke knows he’s no good, he’s heard the way he talked about his previous conquests and Luke would always roll his eyes at the way he referred to these people. Not to mention, Noah was never the poster child for healthy relationships. Rumors went around on the football team saying he beats his significant others and verbally manipulates them. 

Luke knows that he isn’t much better, but that doesn’t mean that Ashton deserves anything less than the best. Unfortunately, Ashton won’t listen to his pleas of steering clear of the jock. 

\--

Luke rolls his eyes for the umpteenth time today. Noah leans against Ashton’s locker as the two giggle at whatever Noah had said. Luke really wants to go over there and rock their world. Well, maybe rock their worlds in different ways. 

  
  


Luke tries his hardest not to glare daggers at Noah, but it’s hard when he’s acting like a total doucher. It’s after 6th period P.E. and all the boys are in the locker room changing from their gym clothes back into their school clothes. Some guys from the football team crowd around Luke as they talk about their fantasy football league while others crowd around Noah, talking about God knows what. 

Luke does his best at ignoring their conversation, instead focusing on the one he’s partaking in. It works for the most part until Noah and his posse start getting rowdy.

“God, he’s so easy!” Noah enthusiastically tells the group of boys.

Luke knows he should’ve minded his own business, but when it comes to Ashton, his senses get a bit cloudy. All the boys ooo and awe at the nasty stories that Noah is relaying to them. After one story about Ashton doing things that definitely aren’t true, Luke is pissed off and wants to punch something. So he does. He strides over to the other side of the locker room, pushing past the other guys standing in his way. Shoving the last guy in his way, Luke lands a solid punch right in Noah’s jaw. 

“Ow,” Noah clutches his jaw, “what the fuck?”

“Keep Ashton’s name out of your mouth!” Luke angrily shoves the other boy against the locker, Noah’s back thudding hard against the steel door. 

“Oh, I see. You’re just pissed off because I can actually fuck him without telling the whole school he raped me,” Noah mocks, trying to egg Luke on. It does.

The fight is over relatively soon. Luke gets most of the shots in on Noah’s face. The other boy did get a nice jab in though. Luke’s nose is a bit bloody and he knows he has a split lip. Plus, his knuckles are blown to hell after the number they did on Noah’s face. The gym teacher rushed in upon hearing all the commotion and pulled Luke off of Noah. 

“Get to the office, both of you!” The teacher sneers.

Well, Luke doesn’t feel like being bitched at by the principal and then later by his mother, so he skips out on the trip to the office and stalks off to his car in the student parking lot. The autumn breeze ripples through his gym shorts as he hops on the hood of his car. He puts his head in his hands as he tries to calm down. He can feel the blood trickling from his nose and his lip starts to throb as the adrenaline fades. The blood from his nose starts dripping into his mouth, so he brings his white t-shirt up to his face and dabs the blood away. His knuckles ache more than anything, the skin is busted open and is starting to turn a nasty shade of purple and blue. 

He startles a bit when a huge roll of thunder booms from the sky, followed by a long crack of lightning. He sighs as the wind picks up a bit, ruffling his hair. The first few raindrops miss him and land on the hood of the car. The next few land on Luke before it turns into a heavy downpour. Soon enough, Luke is soaked and slightly shivering. There’s so much rain, that he has a hard time seeing more than 20 feet around him. He doesn’t care that the rain is going to make him sick, he just sits with the palms of his hands digging in his eyes. 

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” someone standing a few feet in front of him asks.

Luke knows its Ashton and the pit of his stomach flips a bit at the sound of the boy's voice. Looking up, Luke has to stop himself from smiling at the sight. Ashton stands shivering, his arms folding across his chest. His little hands are covered by his long black hoodie, giving him sweater paws. Rain drops soak his hair and roll down his cheek, making him look like a wet puppy. 

“Well?” Ashton looks at Luke disappointedly, “Don’t you have anything to say for yourself,” 

Luke shrugs, seemingly unbothered, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Ashton walks closer, crowding Luke. He narrows his eyes, disapprovingly. It unnerves Luke to see him look so judgemental.

“So, beating the shit out of Noah for absolutely no reason doesn’t ring a bell?” Ashton asks.

So Ashton knew that Luke beat up Noah, but he thinks it was unwarranted? Luke gets mad, that Ashton is standing there defending someone who was slandering him behind his back. In a fit of rage, Luke springs up from the hood of the car, his shoes thudding hard against the pavement. He crowds in towards Ashton, causing the smaller boy to take a step back.

“Is that what you think? Let me guess, that’s what Noah told you.” Luke scoffs.

Ashton doesn’t say anything, instead giving Luke a look that confirms everything that Luke needs to know. 

Luke laughs dryly, void of any humor, “I guess he forgot to mention the part where he was telling everybody how easy you were and how much you were begging for his dick,” Luke rolls his eyes.

Ashton falters, his face reddening in embarrassment, “N-no he wouldn’t.” 

“Oh, but he would, princess,” Luke confirms, “I heard it all.”

Luke can’t tell whether Ashton is crying or if it’s just the rain running down his red cheeks. Ashton doesn’t say anything for a moment, just looking down at the ground, ashamed. Luke thinks about getting in his car and leaving, but he can’t bring himself to leave Ashton sad and alone in the rain, so he waits for Ashton to do something first.

Ashton mumbles something softly, so quiet that Luke can’t make out what he said. Luke asks him to repeat himself and this time Ashton looks up at him with a bit more confidence.

“Why do you care what he says about me?” The short boy asks, almost defiantly. 

Well, Luke really didn’t know how to answer that. He stumbles over his words for a bit as he tries to sort out the millions of thoughts swimming through his head and put them into a coherent sentence. So, he surges forward and kisses Ashton. 

They both seem just as surprised by the kiss, but that doesn’t stop either of them from reacting with fervor. Teeth clashing and noses bumping, Luke walks them backwards towards the drivers side of his car. He pops open the door and sits, bringing Ashton down on top of him, in his lap. He slams the door closed and brings Ashton down to him by the back of his neck. 

Tongues fighting for dominance and windows fogging from audible moans, the two are rock hard in a matter of seconds. Their clothes stick to both of them awkwardly, so Luke strips himself of his blood-stained t-shirt as Ashton takes off his hoodie. The crop top he wears beneath it leaves not much to the imagination, so Luke is quick to lift it over Ashton’s head and discards it in the pile of clothes that’s growing on the passenger seat. 

Luke moans at the mere sight of Ashton without his shirt on. He got a quick glimpse of him during their rendezvous at the party, but he was very drunk and hardly remembers it. Luke stares for a moment too long and Ashton squirms, growing self-conscious. Embarrassed, the smaller boy moves his arms to cover his soft tummy, but Luke stops him.

“Let me see you, princess,” Luke says softly, batting Ashton’s hands away. 

Luke leans forward and plants a warm kiss on the center of Ashton’s sternum, “beautiful,” he whispers before moving down towards his ribs. Luke kisses all over Ashton’s torso, shoulders, and neck, whispering words of endearment, making Ashton blush. Each kiss against his soft skin gives Luke a wave of serenity as he can smell the vanilla perfume that Ashton must be wearing. Light freckles dust the tops of his shoulders, just as they do on his cheeks and Luke finds them enchanting. Luke moves up to begin kissing Ashton again, but is interrupted by a harsh knocking on the window.

“Get a room, ya horny bastards!” Niall cackles before running away towards his own car. 

  
  



End file.
